Miami Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for $2.3 Million COVID-19 Unemployment Insurance Benefits Fraud Scheme (Press Release, June 24, 2025)

Summary

Press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Maryland, dated June 24, 2025. David Godin of Miami, Florida was sentenced by Judge Matthew J. Maddox to 78 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. The plea agreement says that from June 2020 through November 2023 he defrauded the Maryland Department of Labor and the California Employment Development Department using identity theft victims' information and at least 140 fraudulent unemployment insurance claims, resulting in more than $2.3 million in benefits. He was ordered to pay a forfeiture money judgment of $1,087,345.66 and restitution of $1,137,894.56.

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PRESS RELEASE


Miami Man Sentenced to Federal Prison
for $2.3 Million COVID-19 Unemployment
Insurance Benefits Fraud Scheme
Tuesday, June 24, 2025

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Maryland

Baltimore, Maryland – Today, U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Maddox sentenced David
Godin, 34, of Miami, Florida, aka “James St Patrick,” “David Wetty,” and “Vic Pro,” to 78
months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Godin pled
guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with a scheme to
defraud the Maryland Department of Labor (MD-DOL) and California Employment
Development Department (CA-EDD). Judge Maddox also ordered Godin to pay a
forfeiture money judgment of $1,087,345.66 and restitution of $1,137,894.56.

Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the sentence with
Special Agent in Charge Troy W. Springer, National Capital Region, U.S. Department of
Labor’s Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG), and Special Agent in Charge Kareem A.
Carter, Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Washington, D.C. Field
Office.

According to the plea agreement, from June 2020 through November 2023, Godin
engaged in a sophisticated scheme to defraud the MD-DOL and CA-EDD by using the
personal identifiable information of identity theft victims, anonymous email addresses,
virtual private networks, and proxy servers. This enabled Godin to file numerous
fraudulent unemployment insurance (UI) claims with multiple states from a single
location; aggregate UI information in discrete accounts; and avoid fraud safeguards put
in place by state UI insurance programs.

Godin submitted and caused the submission of at least 140 fraudulent UI claims to MD-
DOL, CA-EDD, and other state workforce agencies, resulting in more than $2.3 million in
UI benefits. He obtained well over $1 million through the fraud scheme. As the United
States set forth in its sentencing submission, Godin used the money to buy nice things
and live a life of luxury. Godin then recorded himself with the spoils of his fraud,
including stacks of cash, expensive watches, and sports cars.

The District of Maryland COVID-19 Strike Force is one of five strike forces established
throughout the United States by the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and
prosecute COVID-19 fraud, including fraud relating to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and
Economic Security (CARES) Act. The CARES Act was designed to provide emergency
financial assistance to Americans suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-
19 pandemic. The strike forces focus on large-scale, multi-state pandemic relief fraud
perpetrated by criminal organizations and transnational actors. The strike forces are
interagency law enforcement efforts, using prosecutor-led and data analyst-driven
teams designed to identify and bring to justice those who stole pandemic relief funds.

For more information about the Department’s response to the pandemic, please
visit justice.gov/coronavirus. Anyone with information about allegations of attempted
fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National
Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web
Complaint Form at justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the DOL-OIG and IRS-CI for their work in the
investigation. Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bijon A. Mostoufi and
Jared Murphy, who prosecuted the case, and recognized Paralegal Specialist Joanna B.N.
Huber for her assistance and legal support.

For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and
resources available to report fraud, please visit justice.gov/usao-
md and justice.gov/usao-md/report-fraud.

                                           ###

Contact
Kevin Nash
USAMD.Press@usdoj.gov
410-209-4946

Updated June 24, 2025

Topics
CORONAVIRUS

DISASTER FRAUD
Component
USAO - Maryland


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