People rely on unemployment when they are laid off or let go from a company, but it also seems to be open to fraud on a massive level. In just the recent months of this year, the Department of Labor has uncovered millions of dollars in fraud that has happened, which means the program is vulnerable in a way that should be unacceptable to everyone. The money stolen will need to be replaced by taxpayers, who have already had to strengthen it due to the government's forced layoffs of the pandemic. Unemployment and Drugs Here, via a Labor OIG newsletter that covers these stories, is where a guy incorporated fraud and drugs. On January 16, 2024, Brenden Lockridge was sentenced to 72 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $2.1 million in restitution, joint and several with a co-conspirator, for his role in an unemployment insurance (UI) fraud and drug distribution scheme. From March 2020 and continuing through April 2021, Lockridge and his co-conspirators engaged in a conspiracy t...