Woman collected $145K in benefits using names of convicted murderers Scott Peterson, Cary Stayner

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A Sacramento woman has been charged with using the names of San Quentin State prisoners Scott Peterson and Cary Stayner to collect at least $145,000 in fraudulent unemployment benefits, according to the state attorney general’s office.

On Wednesday, Brandy Iglesias appeared in court on multiple charges of grand theft, forgery, identity theft and making false statements, according to The LA Times.

Iglesias, who was arrested on Saturday, allegedly filed and collected unemployment benefits from the California Employment Development Department using Peterson’s and Stayner’s names from April 2020 to September 2021, according to The Associated Press.

She also filed for jobless benefits under her name, Attorney General Rob Bonta said.

“Don’t let the infamous names distract you from who this crime really hurt — the most vulnerable in our society. EDD theft hurts families in need, parents left without jobs during a pandemic and Californians struggling to get by. That’s why I’m thankful for my agents, and for our partners in the EDD and CDCR, for their work together on this case,” Bonta said in a statement released Wednesday.

Iglesias had been employed by a company that contracted with San Quentin State Prison, where Peterson and Stayner are serving their sentences. Prosecutors believe she may have used her job to access prisoners’ personal information.

Peterson is serving a life sentence at the prison after he was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife and unborn child and dumping their bodies into the San Francisco Bay on Christmas Eve 2002. Stayner is currently on death row at the prison. He confessed to killing three women who were sightseeing in Yosemite National Park in 1999.

So far, the California EDD said the state stopped $120 billion worth of fraud attempts in 2020 and 2021 but failed to stop $20 billion in fraud. AP reported that $810 million was paid in the names of roughly 45,000 prison inmates who weren’t eligible.