Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Man busted in Las Vegas hotel room accused of unemployment benefit fraud

An October marijuana bust in a Las Vegas Strip hotel room led law enforcement to 15 fraudulently obtained debit cards with California unemployment benefits totaling about $223,000, according to federal officials.

Delashaun Dean, 32, of Arizona, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of possession of counterfeit and unauthorized access devices, which could land him up to 10 years in prison, according to the office of the U.S. attorney for the district of Nevada.

Dean, of Tolleson, Ariz., is scheduled to be sentenced in Las Vegas federal court on May 11. 

In early October, staff at the Cosmopolitan alerted Metro Police about finding bags with about 6 pounds of pot in a room registered to Dean, according to a criminal complaint.

Police instructed the hotel to lock the room and arrested Dean when he showed up, saying that his key didn’t work, the complaint said.

Inside, authorities discovered the cards, a ledger with identifying information for at least half a dozen victims, which Dean used to apply for the benefits, which totaled $222,930, officials said.

According to the complaint, Dean denied knowing anything about the cards, telling law enforcement that he rented the room with another person he didn’t identify.  

The Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General investigated the case, which was prosecuted by the office of the U.S. Attorney in Nevada.