D.C. Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Unemployment Insurance Benefits Scheme During COVID-19 Pandemic

Summary

Press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Maryland, dated January 21, 2026. U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby sentenced Isiah Lewis of Prince George's County, Maryland, to 53 months of imprisonment for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, in connection with a scheme to defraud the Maryland Department of Labor and California Employment Development Department. According to the guilty plea, from at least June 2020 through March 2021, Lewis conspired with Michael Cooley, Jr. and Alonzo Brown to defraud multiple state workforce agencies of more than $800,000 in unemployment insurance benefits, and successfully obtained more than $300,000. Judge Griggsby ordered Lewis to pay restitution of $310,428.08.

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PRESS RELEASE


D.C. Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for
Unemployment Insurance Benefits
Scheme During COVID-19 Pandemic
Wednesday, January 21, 2026

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

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby sentenced Isiah Lewis, 35,
of Prince George’s County, Maryland, to 53 months of imprisonment 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).

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 guilty plea, from at least June 2020 through March 2021, Lewis
conspired with Michael Cooley, Jr., 26, of Prince George’s County, Maryland, and Alonzo
Brown, 28, of Richmond, Virginia, to devise and execute a scheme to defraud victim
individuals and multiple state workforce agencies, including in Maryland and California,
of more than $800,000 in unemployment insurance benefits, and successfully obtained
more than $300,000. Griggsby previously sentenced Cooley and Brown to 87 months
and 45 months, respectively.

Through the sophisticated scheme, co-conspirators used the personal identifiable
information of more than 60 individuals, such as name, date of birth, and social security
number, to file online UI applications in Maryland and California, using anonymous
email addresses to obscure their identities and avoid detection.
At sentencing, Judge Griggsby ordered Lewis to pay restitution of $310,428.08 to the
crime victims in the case and to forfeit money, property, and/or assets derived from the
scheme.

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 https://www.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 https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-
form.

U.S. Attorney Hayes commended 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 prosecuted the federal case, along with Joanna B.N. Huber, who
supported the case.

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

                                           ###

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

Updated January 21, 2026


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