A federal judge in Atlanta on Thursday sentenced former state Rep. Karen Bennett to time served for lying to the government to receive unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. District Court Judge Eleanor Ross required Bennett to pay $13,940 in restitution for the money she improperly took, a $1,000 fine and a $100 administrative fee.
In an emotional speech before being sentenced, Bennett expressed remorse for her actions. She said she feared they would overshadow her record as an elected official.
“My deepest regret is that I have let down the very people who trusted and believed in me,” she said.
Bennett, a Stone Mountain Democrat, pleaded guilty to the felony charge in January.
Bennett applied for pandemic unemployment assistance in 2020. She claimed that she lost wages related to her physical therapy business and had been seeking employment, despite the fact she held an administrative role and worked from home, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Garrett L. Bradford.
The program provided assistance to those who were unable to work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bradford said that Bennett acknowledged she was receiving $300 a week from her role as a lawmaker, but she failed to disclose the weekly $905 she was receiving from working at a church.
Bennett is one of three Democratic state lawmakers who have been prosecuted for pandemic unemployment fraud recently. Former state Rep. Dexter Sharper pleaded guilty to similar charges in March. And federal prosecutors have targeted state Rep. Sharon Henderson, who Gov. Brian Kemp suspended after she was indicted. Henderson has pleaded not guilty.
Bennett resigned from her post on Jan. 1 before charges were announced. She served as a state legislator for more than a decade. Voters first elected Bennett in 2012 to represent parts of DeKalb and Gwinnett counties.
Bennett said Thursday that she would continue to serve her community in whatever capacity she was allowed.
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