Sacramento Man Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud

Summary

Press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of California, dated September 15, 2025. Roosevelt Gulley of Sacramento pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. According to court documents, from July through September 2020 he collected personally identifiable information and electronically submitted at least 79 fraudulent unemployment insurance applications to the California Employment Development Department in those persons' identities, then retrieved the mailed debit cards and removed money at ATMs. The government alleges an actual loss of more than $575,000 and an intended loss exceeding $1.5 million. Sentencing is scheduled before Judge Dale A. Drozd; he faces a maximum of 20 years for wire fraud and a mandatory additional two years for aggravated identity theft.

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PRESS RELEASE


Sacramento Man Pleads Guilty to Wire
Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft in
Connection with Covid-Related
Unemployment Insurance Fraud Scheme
Monday, September 15, 2025

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

Roosevelt Gulley III, 41, of Sacramento, pleaded guilty today to wire fraud and
aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.

According to court documents, from July through September 2020, Gulley participated
in a Covid-fraud scheme targeting the Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefit program
administered by the California Employment Development Department (EDD). He
collected personally identifiable information, including names, dates of birth, Social
Security numbers and other information, and electronically submitted fraudulent
applications for UI benefits to the California EDD in those persons’ identities. He
electronically submitted at least 79 of these fraudulent applications to California EDD,
which resulted in UI benefits debit cards being mailed to addresses he listed in the
fraudulent applications. Gulley then retrieved the debit cards and removed money from
them at various ATMs. The government alleges that the actual loss attributed to this
fraudulent scheme was more than $575,000, with an intended loss exceeding $1.5
million.

“Roosevelt Gulley collected the personally identifiable information of individuals without
their knowledge to fraudulently collect unemployment insurance benefits intended for
American workers who lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Quentin
Heiden, Special-Agent-in-Charge, Western Region, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of
Inspector General. “I would like to thank the Eastern District of California and the
COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Strike Force for their continued efforts to hold
accountable those who committed pandemic-related fraud.”
This case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor – Office of
Inspector General and the California EDD’s Investigation Division, with assistance from
the U.S. Secret Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Denise N. Yasinow is prosecuting the
case.

Gulley is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 26, 2026, by U.S. District Judge Dale A.
Drozd. Gulley faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison for wire fraud and
a mandatory additional sentence of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft.
The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after
consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the federal Sentencing Guidelines,
which take into account a number of variables.

This effort is part of a California COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Strike Force operation,
one of five interagency COVID-19 fraud strike force teams established by the U.S.
Department of Justice. The California Strike Force combines law enforcement and
prosecutorial resources in the Eastern and Central Districts of California and focuses on
large-scale, multistate pandemic relief fraud perpetrated by criminal organizations and
transnational actors. The strike forces use prosecutor-led and data analyst-driven teams
to identify and bring to justice those who stole pandemic relief funds.

Updated September 15, 2025

Topics
CORONAVIRUS

FINANCIAL FRAUD

IDENTITY THEFT

Component
USAO - California, Eastern


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