• What Happened: Former Georgia state Rep. Karen Bennett, 70, pleaded guilty January 21 to federal fraud charges for stealing $13,940 in COVID unemployment benefits she was not entitled to.
  • Why It Matters: Bennett is the second Georgia Democrat lawmaker charged with the exact same scheme. Rep. Sharon Henderson was indicted in December 2025 for stealing $17,811 in identical pandemic fraud.
  • Bottom Line: Three Democrat state reps. Same scam. Same taxpayer money. The party that screamed loudest about helping working people was busy helping themselves.

A Georgia Democrat who spent years in the state legislature representing her constituents pleaded guilty to stealing from them.

Karen Bennett, 70, a Democrat who represented House District 94 covering parts of DeKalb and Gwinnett counties from 2012 until her resignation on January 1, 2026, admitted in federal court to fraudulently collecting $13,940 in COVID pandemic unemployment benefits she was never entitled to receive.

The scheme was straightforward and brazen. In May 2020, Bennett applied for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, a program created to help workers whose jobs were genuinely disrupted by COVID-19. She claimed the pandemic had prevented her from working at Metro Therapy Providers, the physical therapy company she owned. Prosecutors said that was a lie. Bennett's role at the company was administrative and performed from a home office. The business kept operating. She then submitted weekly certifications for months, claiming she was unemployed and actively searching for work.

She also hid something else. While pocketing taxpayer relief money, Bennett was collecting $905 a week from her church. She never disclosed it.

"Bennett was elected to represent her fellow citizens and took a solemn oath to promote the best interests and prosperity of the State of Georgia," said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. "Instead, she violated that oath and, during an unprecedented emergency, lied to line her own pockets with taxpayer money intended to help community members in need."

Sentencing is scheduled for April 15, 2026. Prosecutors have agreed not to seek prison time. Bennett will repay the $13,940.

But here is what makes this story bigger than one corrupt lawmaker. Bennett is not the only Georgia Democrat state rep caught running this exact play. In December 2025, Rep. Sharon Henderson was indicted on two counts of theft of government funds and ten counts of making false statements for fraudulently collecting $17,811 in the same program. Henderson has pleaded not guilty and remains under indictment.

And then there is a third. Rep. Dexter Sharper, a Valdosta Democrat who represented District 177, pleaded guilty March 11, 2026, just days after resigning his seat. Prosecutors say Sharper filed 38 separate weekly unemployment certifications between April 2020 and May 2021 claiming he had not worked and was actively seeking employment. The whole time he was collecting his state representative salary, running his party rental business generating up to $2,231 a week, and picking up additional income as a musician. He fraudulently collected nearly $14,000. Sentencing is scheduled for July 21.

That is three Georgia Democrat state legislators, the same COVID relief program, the same lie told to the same federal government, and nearly $46,000 in stolen taxpayer money between them. Rep. Sharon Henderson remains under indictment and was suspended from office by Gov. Brian Kemp. Bennett and Sharper have both pleaded guilty. U.S. Attorney Theodore Hertzberg put it plainly: "When government officials lie to take money, and do it while holding an elected office, it violates the trust of citizens and weakens faith in our elected government."

The party that spent 2020 lecturing Americans about equity, sacrifice, and community was sending its own members to the trough.