Former USPS employee sentenced for role in unemployment fraud

NEWARK, NJ — A former U.S. Postal Service employee was sentenced to 13 months in prison for fraudulently obtaining unemployment insurance benefits, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced Sept. 21.

Khaori Monroe, 29, of Newark, previously pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Julien X. Neals to an information charging him with one count of wire fraud. 

According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court, Monroe was employed as a mail carrier with the USPS. From July 2020 through October 2020, Monroe and others stole credit/debit cards containing unemployment insurance benefits from a location in New Jersey. Monroe and others then activated the cards and used the cards to obtain more than $40,000.

In addition to the prison term, Neals sentenced Monroe to two years of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution in the amount of $53,321.05 and forfeiture in the amount of $24,924.16.

  Fraud, Sentencing, U.S. Attorney’s Office, U.S. Postal Service