Virginia Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Insurance Benefits Scheme (Press Release, July 1, 2025)

Summary

Press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Maryland, dated July 1, 2025. Alonzo Brown of Richmond, Virginia was sentenced by Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby to 45 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, in a scheme to defraud the Maryland Department of Labor and California Employment Development Department. He was ordered to pay $310,428.08 in restitution and forfeit the same amount as a money judgment. According to the guilty plea, the scheme sought more than $800,000 in unemployment insurance benefits and obtained more than $300,000, using information from more than 60 individuals. The release says Michael Cooley was sentenced to 87 months in April.

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PRESS RELEASE


Virginia Man Sentenced to Federal Prison
for COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment
Insurance Benefits Scheme
Tuesday, July 1, 2025

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


Greenbelt, Maryland – Today, U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby sentenced Alonzo
Brown, 27, of Richmond, Virginia, to 45 months in federal prison, followed by three years
of supervised release, for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft,
in connection with a conspiracy and scheme to defraud the Maryland Department of
Labor (MD-DOL) and California Employment Development Department (CA-
EDD). Judge Griggsby also ordered Brown to pay $310,428.08 of restitution to the
victims and forfeit all money, property, and/or assets derived from the scheme,
including a money judgment of $310,428.08.

Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the guilty plea 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 Field
Office.

According to the guilty plea, from at least June 2020 through March 2021, Brown
conspired with Michael Cooley, 26, of Prince George’s County, Maryland, and Isiah Lewis,
35, of Prince George’s County, to devise and execute a scheme to defraud individuals
and multiple state workforce agencies, including in Maryland and California, of more
than $800,000 in unemployment insurance (UI) benefits, successfully obtaining more
than $300,000. The scheme was sophisticated and used personal identifiable
information — such as name, date of birth, and social security number — from more
than 60 individuals to file online UI applications in Maryland and California, using
anonymous email addresses to obscure their identities and avoid detection.
Griggsby sentenced Cooley to 87 months in federal prison for his role in the scheme
back in April.

This case is part of the District of Maryland COVID-19 Strike Force, a Strike Force that 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 M. Beim, who are prosecuting this federal case, and Joanna B.N. Huber, who is
supporting the case.

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 July 1, 2025

Topics
CORONAVIRUS
FINANCIAL FRAUD


Component
USAO - Maryland


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