PORTLAND, Maine — A former Arizona man pleaded guilty Tuesday in a Portland courtroom to allegedly stealing the identities of Maine people as part of an unemployment fraud scheme.
James McAuliffe, 55, pleaded guilty to six counts of wire fraud and six counts of aggravated identity theft, the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Maine said in a news release.
Court records show McAuliffe filed false claims for unemployment insurance (IU) benefits from January 2020 to November 2020, according to the release.
"McAuliffe filed fraudulent applications for UI payments with the Maine Department of Labor, Bureau of Unemployment Compensation using others’ personal identifying information without their knowledge and consent," the release stated. "As a part of the scheme, he caused fraudulent applications for replacement driver's licenses to be filed with the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles and changed the drivers’ mailing addresses, using the falsified licenses as proof of identification in support of the fraudulent UI claims."
Additionally, McAuliffe had the UI benefits put "loaded onto debits cards and wired into an account he opened in another person’s name and withdrew the funds at ATMs in Arizona," the release said.
McAuliffe is facing up to a 20-year sentence in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release on each count of wire fraud, according to Tuesday's release.
"He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison on the aggravated identity theft counts, which must be served consecutively to the sentence imposed on the wire fraud counts," the release stated.
McAuliffe will receive his sentencing once the U.S. Probation Office completes a presentence investigation report.
“James McAuliffe engaged in a scheme to fraudulently obtain unemployment insurance funds by using the stolen identities of Maine residents and others. McAuliffe stole benefits set aside by the federal government to assist American workers struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to safeguard Department of Labor programs from those who seek to exploit them,” Jonathan Mellone, Special Agent-in-Charge, Northeast Region, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, said in the release.
At the time of his arrest, McAuliffe was living in Kansas, the release stated.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor, the Office of Inspector General, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
