Nuke Bizzle, a rapper who bragged about his COVID relief fraud, learned the punishment for his scam on Wednesday (December 7).
United States District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald sentenced Nuke Bizzle to 77 months in prison. The judge ordered the Memphis-bred rapper to pay $704,760 in restitution to the California Employment Development Department.
Nuke Bizzle, whose real name is Fontrell Antonio Baines, pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud in July. That same month, he pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon in a separate case. He also pleaded guilty to possession of oxycodone with intent to distribute in August.
According to the Department of Justice, Nuke Bizzle scammed the government to obtain more than $700,000 in unemployment insurance money. He exploited the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance provisions of the CARES Act, which Congress passed in March 2020.
“Baines defrauded the program to obtain unemployment benefits administered by the EDD in the names of third parties, including identity theft victims,” the DOJ said. “The applications for benefits also included false statements about the work histories and in-state residences of the named applicants. Through his fraud, Baines turned the taxpayer-funded program into ‘his personal piggybank,’ according to a sentencing memorandum filed by federal prosecutors.”
Nuke Bizzle ran his scam from July 2020 to September 2020. He was arrested in October 2020.