A Yonkers man who stole $135,504 in unemployment compensation from the state Department of Labor and who was on track to stealing nearly $500,000 has been sentenced to three years of supervision.
U.S. District Court Judge Nelson S. Román imposed the sentence a year ago but the judgment was not filed until March 20, 2026.
Perez was accused in August 2023 of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in Westchester and Dutchess counties and the Bronx. From mid-2020 to mid-2021, according to the criminal complaint, he used the names, birthdates, and Social Security numbers of eight people to get extra state unemployment benefits funded by federal Covid-19 disaster relief programs.
The U.S. Department of Labor spotted several “commonalties,” according to the criminal complaint. All eight claimants used the same address as Perez’s apartment in Yonkers. They used the same IP address when they connected to the state Department of Labor website. They used the same secret question and answer for resetting passwords: the name of their first pet and the pet’s name.
New York funded the benefits through bank debit cards. Investigators compared surveillance footage of an individual using the debit cards at ATM machines in New York and California, compared the images to Perez’s drivers licenses and passport, and concluded they were a match.
American Airlines and Airbnb records placed Perez in California when the debit cards were used, and cell phone site data aligned with ATM withdrawal locations.
If investigators had not discovered the fraud, the criminal complaint states, Perez could have received $489,840.
Perez surrendered in August 2023 and was released from custody on posting a $50,000 appearance bond in White Plains federal court.
In January 2025, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and he stipulated to federal sentencing guidelines that called for imprisonment of 21 to 27 months.
His attorney, Mark B. Gombiner, recommended no prison time. Citing letters from Perez’s family and friends, he described him as “a compassionate, loving person who has been doing a great deal to become a good father and a productive citizen.”
Assistant prosecutors Ben Arad and Jared Hoffman recommended prison for 21 to 27 months.
They noted that the U.S. Government Accountability Office estimated that fraud accounted for $100 billion to $135 billions in pandemic unemployment benefits.
A prison sentence, they said, is required “to send a message that defrauding the [New York Department of Labor] and federal government does not pay off, especially in times of crisis.”
Judge Román sentenced Perez to three years of supervision, including 18 months of home confinement with electronic location monitoring.
