Albany, NY (August 23, 2013) - State Department of Labor Commissioner Peter M. Rivera announced today that United States Postal Worker Carl Patterson was sentenced to 3 years probation and 6 months home detention for stealing more than $40,000 in Unemployment Insurance benefits by the US District Court for the Northern District of New York. He fraudulently received Unemployment Insurance benefits by falsely reporting that he was unemployed when in fact he was working at the Postal Service from June 2009 through April 2012.  He was also ordered to pay back the full amount of $40,518 restitution, plus fines.

Patterson, of New York, New York, pleaded guilty to 18 USC 641, for stealing public money following an investigation by the Department of Labor’s Major Case Unit, the United States Attorney’s Office Northern District, United States Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General and United State Postal Service Office of the Inspector General.

This is the eighth United States Postal Service worker arrested as a result of State Labor Department investigations for stealing Unemployment Benefits in the past six months. The DOL identified more than 60 persons employed by the USPS as mail carriers, mail processing clerks or casual laborers who fraudulently collected Unemployment Insurance benefits while working for the Postal Service.  Patterson is the first to be convicted of a felony. Seven postal employees were sentenced to pay more than $425,000 in restitution of Unemployment Insurance funds they had fraudulently collected in April.  The investigation into the other employees of the Postal Service is on-going.            

 “Governor Cuomo and the Department of Labor have a zero tolerance policy on Unemployment Insurance fraud – especially when it’s committed by government employees who should be serving taxpayers, not stealing from them,” said State Labor Commissioner Peter M. Rivera. “Our Major Case Unit at the Labor Department continues to uncover these acts of deception on a daily basis, and I am proud of the work we have done together with the U. S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York to bring these individuals to justice.”

New York State operates one of the largest Unemployment Insurance systems in the country. In 2012, New York State paid out nearly $7.1 billion in total benefits to 1.13 million individuals. In addition to administering the entire system, the Department of Labor is responsible for preventing and stopping fraud and ensuring the integrity of the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.

The Trust Fund is funded by employers across New York. When the fund is forced to pay out because of a fraudulent claim, employers have to pay more -- and that means consumers will pay more as well. It is in everyone’s best interests to stop Unemployment Insurance fraud.

New York State, a nationally recognized leader in the fight against Unemployment Insurance fraud, has identified 14,689 claimants who received more than $42 million in benefits they were not entitled to in 2013. In 2012, New York State was selected to create a single UI National Integrity Center of Excellence by the United States Department of Labor and United States Office of Management and Budget. New York was awarded $15 million to run this innovation think tank, which is entrusted with improving state UI integrity, fraud prevention efforts, and collaboration nationwide.

Commissioner Rivera extends his thanks to agents of the U.S. Postal Service’s Inspector General and of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Inspector General, who assisted in the investigation, and the Honorable Richard S. Hartunian, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York, for prosecuting the offenses.

Anyone with information about Unemployment Insurance fraud should call the Department of Labor's toll-free fraud hotline at (888) 598-2077.

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