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U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Illinois Man Admits Stealing Unemployment Insurance Benefits while Incarcerated (USAO D-NJ 04/07/2022) (2022-04-13)

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, dated Thursday, April 7, 2022, announcing that Devontae Stokes, 27, of Country Club Hills, Illinois, pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo to an information charging conspiring to commit wire fraud. According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court, Stokes was incarcerated at FCI Fort Dix between August 2020 and November 2020. The release states that Stokes and conspirators used other individuals' names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers to make fraudulent unemployment insurance applications and obtained more than $140,000 in benefits. The charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison, and sentencing is scheduled for August 23, 2022.

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“U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Illinois Man Admits Stealing Unemployment Insurance Benefits while Incarcerated (USAO D-NJ 04/07/2022) (2022-04-13).” Original at www.oig.dol.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/u-s-department-of-labor-oig-illinois-man-admits-stealing-unemployment-646d43d6eb/, SHA-256 2141dcff6393c175cf5342191a6c799698f1d5ff059aa289b52881e256d297dc.

Full text

                                      Department of Justice

                                        U.S. Attorney’s Office

                                        District of New Jersey

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                  Thursday, April 7, 2022



    Illinois Man Admits Stealing Unemployment Insurance
                  Benefits while Incarcerated
NEWARK, N.J. – An Illinois man today admitted that he used other individuals’ personal
identification information to fraudulently obtain unemployment insurance benefits while he was
incarcerated, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Devontae Stokes, 27, of Country Club Hills, Illinois, pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S.
District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo to an information charging him with conspiring to commit wire
fraud.

According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court:

On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) was signed
into law. The CARES Act created a new temporary federal unemployment insurance program called
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), which provided unemployment insurance benefits for
individuals who were not eligible for other types of unemployment (e.g., the self-employed,
independent contractors, gig economy workers). The CARES Act also created a new temporary
federal program called Federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (FPUC) that provided an
additional weekly benefit to those eligible for PUA and regular unemployment insurance benefits.

Between August 2020 and November 2020, Stokes was incarcerated at FCI Fort Dix, a federal
correctional institutional with an adjacent satellite camp located in Fort Dix, New Jersey. Stokes and
his conspirators obtained personal identification information (PII), including names, dates of birth,
and Social Security numbers belonging to other individuals without those individuals’ knowledge
and consent. Stokes and his conspirators then used the PII to make fraudulent unemployment
insurance benefits applications and obtained more than $140,000 in benefits.

The charge of conspiring to commit wire fraud is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 20
years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000, twice the gross profits to Stokes or twice the
gross loss suffered by the victims, whichever is greatest. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 23, 2022.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector
General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Mellone, in New York; special
agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr., in Newark;
and special agents with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security
Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jason J. Molina, in Newark, with the
investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Kogan of the U.S. Attorney’s
Office Cybercrime Unit in Newark.
Attachment(s):
Download Stokes.Information.pdf
Topic(s):
Coronavirus
Component(s):
USAO - New Jersey
Press Release Number:
22-129
                        Updated April 7, 2022

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