Over 1.1 million COVID-19 stimulus checks, totaling over $1.3 billion, were sent out to incarcerated people across the United States, data from the Internal Revenue Service revealed.
The $1.3 billion figure includes economic impact payments and does not account for recovery rebate credits, another form of COVID-19 relief given during the pandemic, according to a letter the IRS sent to Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) obtained by the Washington Examiner. Some 163,000 recipients were serving life sentences.
"It’s outrageous that those who inflicted pain on a family or community by committing a crime received a single dime from the government during the pandemic. If anything, the funds should have gone to the victims who would have been better served," Bacon said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
Of the checks doled out, 156,000 were sent to prisoners at the federal level and 982,000 to prisoners at the state level, per the IRS. Stimulus money was given to prisoners via checks, direct deposits, and debit cards.
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