U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Boston Man Sentenced to More Than Seven Years in Prison for Pandemic Fraud, Identity Theft, Firearm and Drug Offenses (USAO D-MA 09/19/2022) (2022-09-21)
Summary
Press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts, dated September 19, 2022, announcing that Jammy Alphonse of Boston was sentenced on Sept. 15, 2022, by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to 94 months in prison and four years of supervised release. It states that on May 19, 2022 Alphonse pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy, false representation of a Social Security number, aggravated identity theft, possession of a firearm and ammunition, and possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl. According to the release, beginning in or around May 2020 Alphonse conspired to submit false Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims in other persons' names, and in February 2021 applied to rent an East Boston property using another person's identity.
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“U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Boston Man Sentenced to More Than Seven Years in Prison for Pandemic Fraud, Identity Theft, Firearm and Drug Offenses (USAO D-MA 09/19/2022) (2022-09-21).”
Original at www.oig.dol.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/u-s-department-of-labor-oig-boston-man-sentenced-to-more-than-seven-ye-0ac1007d9d/
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Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
District of Massachusetts
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, September 19, 2022
Boston Man Sentenced to More Than Seven Years in Prison
for Pandemic Fraud, Identity Theft, Firearm and Drug
Offenses
BOSTON – A Boston man was sentenced on Sept. 15, 2022 for fraud, identity theft, firearm and drug
offenses.
Jammy Alphonse, 28, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to 94 months in
prison and four years of supervised release. On May 19, 2022, Alphonse pleaded guilty to wire fraud
conspiracy, false representation of a Social Security number, aggravated identity theft, possession of
a firearm and ammunition and possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl.
Beginning in or around May 2020, Alphonse conspired to obtain Pandemic Unemployment
Assistance (PUA) benefits, which were made available under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and
Economic Security Act. Specifically, Alphonse conspired to submit false PUA claims in other persons’
names and using other persons’ personally identifiable information. Alphonse and his co-
conspirators created email accounts for the purpose of submitting fraudulent PUA claims from
Alphonse’s Everett residence and other locations. The fraudulently obtained funds were then
directed into accounts held in Alphonse’s name or in the name of a co-conspirator.
Additionally, in February 2021, Alphonse submitted an application to rent a property in East Boston
using the name, Social Security number and date of birth of another person. As a result, Alphonse
resided in that apartment from approximately February 2021 through Aug. 6, 2021, when he was
arrested on a federal firearms offense. A search of the apartment recovered a loaded Glock model
43X, 9-millimeter firearm, 47 rounds of ammunition, and approximately 75 grams or more of
fentanyl, among other things.
Alphonse was previously arrested and charged in August 2021 with being a felon in possession of a
firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon following a shooting in Cambridge, Mass., in July 2021.
Alphonse has remained in custody since that date.
United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Andrew Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the
U.S. Secret Service, Boston Field Office; Jonathan Mellone, Special Agent in Charge of Department
of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations; Colonel
Christopher Mason, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Boston Police Commissioner
Michael Cox; and Cambridge Police Commissioner Christine Elow made the announcement.
Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Mackenzie Duane of Rollins’ Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.
On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to
marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government
to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to
investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists
agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods,
augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and
techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information
and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on 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.
Topic(s): Identity Theft
Coronavirus
Drug Trafficking Component(s):
Firearms Offenses USAO - Massachusetts
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