Christnel Orisca, COVID-19 Loan and Unemployment Fraud, Massachusetts 2026

BOSTON, Massachusetts – A former corrections officer employed by the Suffolk County Sherriff’s Department has pleaded guilty to submitting fraudulent information in an effort to obtain loans through CARES Act programs.

Christnel Orisca, 25, of Boston, pleaded guilty to five counts of wire fraud and one count of making a false statement to a financial institution, arising out of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), traditional Unemployment Insurance, and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan benefits obtained prior to his employment at the Suffolk County Sherriff’s Department.

Orisca was arrested and charged in December 2024. U.S. District Court Judge Julia E. Kobick scheduled sentencing for March 11, 2026.

Orisca was a Corrections Officer with the Suffolk County Sherriff’s Department from late 2021 to December 2024. He fraudulently applied for pandemic unemployment and small business loan benefits while working full-time, initially for a security company and later for a delivery company.

While employed full-time, Orisca collected approximately $54,700 in unemployment benefits and small business loan funds.

The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. The charge of making false statements to a financial institution provides for a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release, and a $1 million fine.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Jonathan Mellone, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General; and Joseph V. Cuffari, Ph.D., Inspector General, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General made the announcement today.

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