Gloucester County Man Admits Fraudulently Obtaining More Than $400,000 in Unemployment Insurance Benefits

NEWARK, N.J. – A Gloucester County, New Jersey, man today admitted that he illegally obtained more than $400,000 in unemployment insurance benefits, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced. 

Willie Carter, 23, of Paulsboro, New Jersey, pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Reneé Marie Bumb to an information charging him with wire fraud.

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

From July 2020 to October 2020, Carter submitted fraudulent unemployment insurance benefit applications to various states. These states provided, and Carter falsely obtained, more than $400,000 in unemployment insurance benefits.

The charge of 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 Carter or twice the gross loss suffered by the victims, whichever is greatest. Sentencing is scheduled for March 14, 2023.

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; postal inspectors with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Newark, under the direction of Acting Inspector in Charge Raimundo Marrero, Philadelphia Division; special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jacqueline Maguire in Philadelphia, and special agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Inspector General Joseph V. Cuffari, with the investigation leading to the guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Kogan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Cybercrime Unit in Newark.