Two former Cincinnati high school football players have been sentenced to prison in a $6.8 million fraud scheme.
Andrew Kerobo and Deonta “Tay Ocho” Belser initially faced a total of 40 counts related to the filing of fraudulent claims with the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.
They each pleaded guilty to one county of engaging in corrupt activity, sentenced to seven to 10 1/2 years in prison and ordered to repay $6.8 million, according to the Ohio Inspector General.
Kerobo played offensive tackle at Winton Woods, where he graduated in 2017. Belser graduated from Elder a year earlier and played defensive end. The two played together at Highland Community College in Kansas in 2018.
During the pandemic, the government threw open the flood gates to get help to people as quickly as possible – enhanced unemployment checks, forgivable business loans and more. With few guardrails in place, scammers took billions of dollars by setting up fake businesses, stealing identities, filing false claims and handing out stolen money to friends, family and themselves.
The Ohio Inspector General investigated Kerobo and Belser and others who stole from the federal pandemic unemployment assistance fraud.
From the beginning of the pandemic through the end of September 2025, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reported $1.8 billion in overpayments in jobless benefits. In the same time frame, $108 million in overpayments have been recovered.
Thieves siphoned off millions of dollars in unemployment benefits.
The state hired companies to help process unemployment claims but some 9,000 people had full “administrative access” to the entire unemployment system, allowing them to void holds on claims and release money. Even after some of those workers were fired, the state contractors failed to shut off their computer access to the system.
Kerobo got fired after working for a state contractor, Randstad, for 75 days. Before his termination, he inappropriately approved 13 claims for $36,800, according to the inspector general.
But the contractor didn’t shut down Kerobo’s login credentials for another 90 days, during which he inappropriately approved 435 claims for $6.8 million, the IG said. Kerobo collaborated with Belser, who recruited others to help find people to file fraudulent claims.
State government reporter Laura Bischoff can be reached at lbischoff@usatodayco.com and @lbischoff on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Two former Cincinnati athletes get prison time in $6.8M fraud case
Reporting by Laura A. Bischoff, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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