NEWARK, N.J. – A former U.S. Postal Service (USPS) employee was sentenced to 13 months in prison for fraudulently obtaining unemployment insurance benefits, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
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. Judge Neals imposed the sentence by videoconference on Sept. 20, 2022.
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, Judge 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.
U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Mellone in Manhattan; and postal inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Newark, under the direction of Acting Inspector in Charge Raimundo Marrero, Philadelphia Division, with the investigation leading to the sentencing.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Kogan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Cybercrime Unit in Newark.
Defense counsel: Khari O. Moore Esq., Newark, New Jersey