This was a joint investigation with Homeland Security Investigations and EDD. United States v. Fernando Alanis (E.D. California). Two Miami, Florida, Residents Sentenced for Their Roles in an Identity Theft UI Fraud Scheme In June 2018, Romario Mathieu and James St. Louis were sentenced to 36 and 24 months in prison, respectively. Matheiu was ordered to pay more than $265,000 in restitution and St. Louis was ordered to pay more than $7,000. In April 2018, Mathieu and St. Louis each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft for their roles in a conspiracy to defraud the State of Florida Unemployment Trust Fund.

This was a joint investigation with Homeland Security Investigations and EDD. United States v. Fernando Alanis (E.D. California).


Two Miami, Florida, Residents Sentenced for Their Roles in an Identity Theft UI Fraud Scheme


In June 2018, Romario Mathieu and James St. Louis were sentenced to 36 and 24 months in prison, respectively. Matheiu was ordered to pay more than $265,000 in restitution and St. Louis was ordered to pay more than $7,000. In April 2018, Mathieu and St. Louis each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft for their roles in a conspiracy to defraud the State of Florida Unemployment Trust Fund. 


From 2013 to 2015, Mathieu and St. Louis conspired to steal the personally identifiable information of numerous individuals for the purpose of filing fraudulent State of Florida UI claims. Both defendants utilized the State of Florida Web-based portal to submit bogus unemployment applications and bank routing and account numbers for accounts they controlled. Once these applications were approved, the state directed benefit payments to the accounts and Mathieu and St. Louis used debit cards to withdraw funds to which they were not entitled. This was a joint investigation with the State of Florida Department of Economic Opportunity and the North Miami Beach Police Department. United States v. Romario Mathieu and James St. Louis (S.D. Florida)