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U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Illinois Man Charged With Stealing Unemployment Insurance Benefits While Incarcerated (USAO D-NJ 09/27/2021) (2021-09-29)

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, dated Monday, September 27, 2021, announcing the arrest of Devontae Stokes, 27, of Country Club Hills, Illinois, charged by complaint with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Stokes was scheduled to appear by videoconference before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cole in the Northern District of Illinois. According to documents filed in the case, Stokes was incarcerated at FCI Fort Dix between August 2020 and November 2020 and, while incarcerated, Stokes and associates caused unemployment insurance benefit applications to be made to numerous states in the names of three victims. The release states that the states provided more than $70,000 and that the charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison.

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“U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Illinois Man Charged With Stealing Unemployment Insurance Benefits While Incarcerated (USAO D-NJ 09/27/2021) (2021-09-29).” Original at www.oig.dol.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/u-s-department-of-labor-oig-illinois-man-charged-with-stealing-unemplo-717c31e718/, SHA-256 0172ed5fa536e1cc4b3f8e26c17ec24edcb55fd1108ebc6945e6ba5b7b11e4aa.

Full text

                                      Department of Justice

                                        U.S. Attorney’s Office

                                        District of New Jersey

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                  Monday, September 27, 2021



        Illinois Man Charged With Stealing Unemployment
                  Insurance Benefits While Incarcerated
NEWARK, N.J. – An Illinois man was arrested today for allegedly using other individuals’ personal
identification information to obtain unemployment insurance benefits while he was incarcerated,
Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced.

Devontae Stokes, 27, of Country Club Hills, Illinois, is charged by complaint with conspiracy to
commit wire fraud. He is scheduled to appear this afternoon by videoconference before U.S.
Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cole in the Northern District of Illinois.

According to documents filed in this 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
(UIB) 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 UIBs.

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. While
incarcerated, Stokes and his associates caused UIB applications to be made to numerous states in the
names of three victims. In response, the states provided more than $70,000 in UIB.

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 to the victims of his offense.

Acting U.S. Attorney Honig 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 Manhattan,
New York; special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge George M.
Crouch Jr., in Newark; special agents with the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland
Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jason J. Molina, in Newark;
and special agents of the U.S. Secret Service, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Mark
McKevitt, with the investigation leading to today’s arrest. She also thanked Federal Bureau of
Prisons personnel at Fort Dix for their assistance.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Kogan of the U.S. Attorney’s
Office Cyber Crimes Unit in Newark.
The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations and the defendant is
considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Attachment(s):
Download stokes.complaint.pdf
Topic(s):
Cyber Crime
Component(s):
USAO - New Jersey
Press Release Number:
21-430
                                                                            Updated September 27, 2021

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Original
www.oig.dol.gov
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