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Rio Arriba County Man Sentenced to 71 Months for Federal Conspiracy and Mail Fraud Conviction
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Gerald Archuleta, 45, of Ojo Caliente, N.M., was sentenced this afternoon in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 71 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his conviction on conspiracy and mail fraud charges arising out of a scheme to defraud the federal and state unemployment insurance system.
Archuleta also was ordered, jointly with his co-defendant, to pay $719,858.73 in restitution. This amount is in addition to the $801,848 in total that was defrauded from the three state workforce agencies.
Archuleta’s co-defendant, Jasonn Gonzales, 43, an accountant from Velarde, N.M., previously was sentenced to 111 months for a conviction arising out of the same scheme in December 2014.
Archuleta and Gonzales were charged in a six-count indictment filed in March 2014. Count 1 charged the two men with conspiracy to commit mail fraud in furtherance of a scheme to defraud the federal and state Unemployment Insurance System in New Mexico, Texas, and Colorado of money by false and fraudulent pretenses.
According to court filings, the federal and state Unemployment Insurance System seeks to lessen the effects of unemployment through payments made to claimants (laid-off workers) on a weekly basis while the claimants seek employment.
This case was investigated by the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Frauds Investigations, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara C. Neda.
Gonzales and Archuleta perpetuated their unlawful scheme by fraudulently registering numerous non-existent companies with the three state workforce agencies and filing false quarterly reports for the fictitious companies which identified claimed employees.
The two men provided the names, dates of birth, and social security numbers of the claimed employees to the state agencies without the knowledge or authorization of the claimed employees, who were real people.
Gonzales and Archuleta then made false and fraudulent claims for unemployment benefit claims on behalf of the claimed employees of the fictitious companies.
The two men opened post office boxes in New Mexico, Texas, and Colorado, which they provided to the three state workforce agencies as mailing addresses for the claimed employees.
The state agencies mailed debit cards to the claimed employees at the post office boxes and the defendants used the debit cards to withdraw the fraudulently obtained benefits.
During the life of the conspiracy, Gonzales and Archuleta submitted fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits in the aggregate amount of $1,356,461, and defrauded the three state workforce agencies of approximately $801,848 in total.
Key Facts
- State: New Mexico
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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