Woman uses stolen identities in $330,000 unemployment scheme in California, feds say
A California woman accused of taking part in an “elaborate” fraud scheme involving stolen identities is headed to prison, federal prosecutors said.
Kari Marie Russo, 46, from Oakland, was sentenced to 33 months plus one day behind bars, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California said in a March 31 news release.
Russo’s attorney declined to comment in an April 1 email to McClatchy News.
In a court filing, the attorney said Russo struggled with drug addiction and domestic violence, and she’s remorseful and “has taken significant steps toward rehabilitation” since her arrest.
Russo and a co-defendant, Steven Dunsmore, 35, also from Oakland, are accused of using stolen information — such as Social Security numbers, names and birth dates — to make unemployment insurance claims, according to prosecutors.
They received more than $336,000, prosecutors said.
Their scheme began in June 2020, per the release, and the pair were arrested that November at a casino after Russo used a players card linked to a stolen identity, according to a court filing.
Police searched them and their vehicle and found “multiple identification cards, credit cards, and credit card statements in the names of stolen identities. They also had numerous pieces of (mail from the state unemployment insurance agency) addressed to different names at” an apartment in San Francisco, the court filing said.
The one-bedroom unit, rented using a stolen identity, “was connected to 33 separate unemployment insurance claims,” the filing said.
Russo and Dunsmore both pleaded guilty to two counts each of aggravated identity theft and fraudulent use of unauthorized access device, prosecutors said.
Russo also pleaded guilty to one count of failure to appear, according to prosecutors. While on pre-trial release, she entered residential drug treatment but then left without permission and skipped a required court date, prosecutors said.
Her attorney wrote in a filing that Russo left after she was harassed by someone in the program, and her father died the week of the court appearance.
Dunsmore was sentenced in June 2024 to 24 months plus one day behind bars, prosecutors said. Both he and Russo were ordered to pay restitution totaling $336,545.
McClatchy News reached out to Dunsmore’s attorney April 1 and was awaiting a response.
This story was originally published April 1, 2025 at 1:05 PM with the headline "Woman uses stolen identities in $330,000 unemployment scheme in California, feds say."
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