Medford Man Pleads Guilty to Unemployment Fraud

A Medford man who fraudulently collected unemployment for 38 weeks has been ordered to pay about $19,000 in restitution, prosecutors said.

Thomas Kelley, 55, of Medford, received unemployment benefits from the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development’s Division of Unemployment Assistance of and on between 2006 and 2009, but during those time periods he worked for seven different employers, according to a press release from the office of Attorney General Martha Coakley.

For each of the 38 weeks Kelley collected unemployment benefits he notified the unemployment assistance office that he was not working, but that he was able to work and was available for work, the press release said. 

Kelley allegedly collected benefits totaling $18,829.

Kelley pleaded guilty and was sentenced in Suffolk County Superior Court May 26. He was sentenced to three years probation and ordered to pay back the benefits, according to the press release, issued Wednesday.

Kelley was one of four men who pled guilty and were sentenced on charges they separately schemed to collect over $101,000 in unemployment benefits while continuing to work, the press release said.

“The detection, investigation, and prosecution of these crimes are vital in bringing funds back to the Commonwealth,” Coakley said in a written statement.  “Unemployment benefits provide necessary relief for many people struggling in today’s economy.  It is a disservice to the taxpayers for individuals to collect benefits while working when so many are in need.”