State authorities have charged nine current and former U.S. Postal Service workers with each stealing $2,000 to $9,000 through fraudulent unemployment insurance claims.
TRENTON -- State authorities have charged nine current and former U.S. Postal Service workers with each stealing $2,000 to $9,000 through fraudulent unemployment insurance claims.
Three of the nine employees, including Ivory Downey, 41, of East Orange; Diana Rivera, 34, of Paterson; and Aaron J. Buie, 71, of Piscataway, were charged Monday with third-degree theft by deception. Six others, Mikikia C. Johnson, 40, of Jersey City; Gloria Long, 64, of Jersey City; Siobhan Austin, 40, of Irvington; Tea Graham-Gates, 45, of Jersey City; Eboni M. Bush, 35, of Plainfield; and Atalaya C. Haskins, 26, of Newark, were indicted earlier in October and November.
The charge carries a three to five year prison sentence and up to $15,000 in fines.
According to the Attorney General's Office, the nine workers "purposely misrepresented their unemployment status, or their hours worked and income earned" to the state labor department.
Between 2010 and 2015, they collected a combined $49,564 in unemployment benefits, authorities said.
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It was not immediately known whether the defendants have attorneys.
"Unemployment insurance provides a financial safety net for New Jersey workers when they fall on hard times," Acting Attorney General John Hoffman said in a statement, "and we won't tolerate selfish criminals who lie about their employment status and steal from this critical fund."
Downey is accused of underreporting her income or days worked for 27 weeks to collect $8,721 while she worked at a postal distribution center in Kearny. Kearny center employees Haskins and Graham-Gates each collected $2,058 and $3,388, respectively, according to the Attorney General's Office.
During several stretches, Long underreported her income or reported she hadn't worked and received no income while she worked 1,000 hours for the postal service, authorities said.
Rivera, a former carrier assistant at the Elmwood Park Post Office, allegedly filed fraudulent unemployment insurance claims over 10 weeks in spring 2012, collecting $6,792.
As a carrier technician in Paramus, Austin earned $34,000 but reported earning less than $3,000, authorities said. She received $6,629 in unemployment benefits. Buie, a letter carrier for the Muhlenberg Station Post Office in Plainfield, and Bush, a carrier in New Brunswick, each received more than $2,000.
Austin and Haskins are suspended from their jobs, while the rest no longer work for the postal service, according to the Attorney General's Office.
Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.