NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A New Jersey man who received more than $400,000 in unemployment benefits illegally and bragged about it on social media was sentenced to prison on Tuesday, prosecutors said.
Willie Carter, 24, was sentenced to 21 months for fraudulently obtaining unemployment benefits, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
The sentence follows Carter's guilty plea to wire fraud charges in November 2022.
The investigation found that Carter allegedly submitted at least 34 false claims for unemployment benefits under different names, drawing funds from multiple states including New Jersey, California, Colorado, and Texas, between July and October 2020, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors revealed that he funneled the unemployment money into two bank accounts under his name.
Carter’s Instagram activities were also uncovered by prosecutors and they found a conversation where he boasted about the unemployment scheme.
Authorities also traced the online applications back to Carter’s IP address.
After completing his prison term, Carter will face three years of supervised release.
U.S. District Judge Reneé Marie Bumb also ordered Carter to pay restitution totaling $469,582.