Criminals in New York received $ 34 million in coronavirus aid: how it got to them

Thousands of New York prisoners acted like gangsters during the coronavirus pandemic. State records show they raised $34,3 million in federal emergency stimulus funds. New York Post.

A total of 26 incentive checks were received by inmates in New York State prisons through September, according to the Department of Corrections and Community Oversight.

Some of the prisoners managed to receive more than one check, because the stimulus payments were made over two years, covering the terms of the government. Trump and Biden.

“Strange, it's a double dive. You can make money while in prison,” said council member Robert Holden.

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“Taxpayers pay for housing and meals for prisoners. The money should go back to the taxpayers who pay for their stay in custody,” he added.

There are about 1,4 million prisoners in the US. Last year, the federal government gave them $783,5 million in stimulus checks as part of the US plan to bail out President Biden. But the total is likely in excess of $1 billion because prisoners were eligible for stimulus funds under the 2020 pandemic relief package approved by Congress and former President Trump.

Individuals who are US citizens or permanent residents were eligible to receive $1200 in stimulus checks if their income did not exceed $75 under the original Relief and Economic Security Act due to coronavirus (CARES). Taxpayers who filed a joint return were eligible for $ 2400.

Nothing in the law specifically prohibited convicts from receiving incentive checks.

But in May 2020, the IRS concluded that those in custody were not eligible for incentive checks. They refused to make payments to prisoners and ordered federal and state prison officials to intercept checks already mailed to prisoners.

A class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of the prisoners, and a federal judge in Northern California ruled that the federal government cannot deny citizens incentive payments just because they are in custody.

Judge Phyllis Hamilton called the action "arbitrary and capricious." She ordered IRS officials to advance payments to prisoners and make it easier for them to apply for incentive checks, which they are legally entitled to.

Government correctional officials said that if an inmate did not receive incentive payments, he was provided with an IRS form and instructions on how to apply for the discount.

There are about 1,5 million inmates in the U.S., and most of them were eligible for stimulus payments based on their income, lawyers in the class action said.