Federal court is sending a Sacramento man to prison for a COVID-era unemployment scam that siphoned hundreds of thousands of dollars from California’s jobless-aid system.
Roosevelt Gulley III, 42, of Sacramento, was sentenced Monday to four years and six months in federal prison and ordered to pay $575,425 in restitution for a COVID-era unemployment benefits fraud scheme. U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd imposed the sentence after Gulley pleaded guilty last September to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Federal prosecutors say he used stolen IDs to file fake EDD claims
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Gulley electronically submitted at least 79 fraudulent unemployment insurance claims with the California Employment Development Department between July and September 2020. Prosecutors say he listed beneficiaries as self employed so benefits debit cards would be mailed to addresses he controlled, then retrieved the cards and pulled out the cash at ATMs.
The scheme caused actual losses of more than $575,000, with an intended loss of more than $1.5 million, according to federal authorities. “This sentence holds the defendant accountable for exploiting a national crisis for personal gain,” U.S. Attorney Eric Grant said in the release.
How investigators say the scam worked
Court documents state that Gulley collected names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers, then used that stolen personal information to file bogus claims. Prosecutors say he back dated earnings and claimed self employment in order to inflate the amount of benefits paid out on each claim.
Gulley pleaded guilty on Sept. 15, 2025, to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Harman prosecuted the case, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Investigation and local reporting
The investigation drew in multiple agencies, including the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General, the Department of Homeland Security’s COVID Fraud Unit, the California EDD’s Fraud Division and the U.S. Secret Service. The case was handled by the California COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Strike Force, which coordinates pandemic-related fraud prosecutions in the state.
Local coverage of the sentencing appeared on FOX40, and Hoodline previously reported Gulley’s guilty plea in our piece “Pleads Guilty To Wire Fraud.”
What the law says
Gulley pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1343, as described by the Legal Information Institute, can carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Aggravated identity theft under 18 U.S.C. § 1028A, outlined on GovInfo, includes a mandatory two year consecutive term when it applies.
