East Cobb Man Convicted, Sentenced for Unemployment Fraud

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An East Cobb man who said he fraudulently accrued unemployment insurance because he wanted to keep his children in their well-performing school district will be spending a year behind bars for the crime, the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday.

Paul Drayton, 46, managed to secure unemployment checks from the state while continuing to work full time at a job that was paying him a $70,000 salary. Prosecutors say that Drayton racked up around $13,000 in unemployment insurance between 2011 and 2012.

Drayton was convicted of violating Georgia’s Employment Security Law; according to the DA’s Office, Drayton told Judge Henry Thompson that he felt it necessary to take the extra money so his children would continue to be able to live in the Walton High School cluster.

Despite the appeal for clemency, the fact that Drayton denied the fraud in 2012 and still hasn’t repaid his debt compelled Thompson to sentence Drayton to five years, with one to serve behind bars. Drayton must also repay $14,000 to the state.

“Unemployment insurance is an emergency fund – not a piggybank to be pilfered to support an east Cobb lifestyle,” Thompson said.