A Carson City woman received probation Tuesday on felony charges of fraud and misconduct of a public officer for processing thousand of dollars in false unemployment claims for family and friends.
Jeraldine Archuleta, 47, was given five years probation with a suspended prison sentence of 12 to 36 months. Judge Bill Maddox further ordered Archuleta to pay $14,122 in restitution and complete 40 hours of community service.
According to a press release from the Nevada Attorney General's office, Archuleta pleaded guilty to the charges. In exchange for the plea, additional charges related to Archuleta obtaining unemployment benefits for herself after she resigned her position with the state were dismissed. Archuleta also agreed to pay restitution for both the charged and uncharged conduct.
A former employee of the Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation's Employment Security Division, Archuleta processed fraudulent unemployment benefit claims for family, friends and aquaintances.
"The money that Ms. Archuleta unscrupulously doled out to her family should have gone to a Nevada family in need," said Attorney General Catherine Cortez-Masto in a news release. "I am pleased that the court has held her accountable for her actions."
The Attorney General's Special Prosecutions Unit prosecuted this case as a public integrity crime.
The case was investigated through the joint efforts of investigators from the Attorney General's Office and the Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation's Employment Security Division.