Report: 127 inmates received unemployment while locked up

BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com) -- While serving their sentences, 127 Massachusetts inmates were also receiving unemployment pay.

What's more, the labor department tells the Boston Herald some of the cases were never passed on to Attorney General Martha Coakley for prosecution. A spokesperson for the department claims some offenders were told to repay the money rather than face prosecution.

The newspaper reports the inmates raked in $149,617 between October 2010 and June 2013. They stood to make nearly a half million more if the cases did not come under scrutiny. The cases were discovered in December 2012 after the Department of Unemployment Assistance began to cross-reference recipients with the state's inmate database.

The Herald's report comes after Coakley's office brought charges in several cases of inmates receiving unemployment benefits.

To read more: bostonherald.com

Cox Media Group