PRAIRIEVILLE - A woman from the capital area who allegedly stole people's personal information from social media so she could use it to file phony unemployment claims, pulling in more than half-a-million dollars in the process, was sentenced to six and a half years in federal prison.

The Department of Justice said Tynea Gray, 23, from Ascension Parish spent over a year —starting in June 2020 — filing fraudulent claims through California's unemployment office using information like names, birthdates and social security numbers. Investigators said Gray would either give portions of the payouts to accomplices or keep it all to herself.

In that time, Gray is also accused of stealing COVID relief funds — namely from the Paycheck Protection Program — using made-up businesses. 

One of those fake claims included a business named of “Royaldiamondzkollection LLC,” for which Gray submitted a forged bank statement and false tax documents, according to her indictment.

Federal prosecutors said Gray collected $550,000 in prepaid debit cards and had over $20,800 deposited into her bank account. 

She pled not guilty to charges of mail fraud and wire fraud, but was ultimately convicted on the former charge.

Gray was sentenced to serve six and a half years in federal prison and three years of supervised release. She was also order to pay $906,534 in restitution. 

Gray was previously arrested in Ascension Parish in 2019 on unrelated charges after a pursuit that spanned multiple parishes.