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BUFFALO, N.Y. - Angela Kellogg, 35, of Dunkirk, who was convicted of theft of government money, was sentenced to serve three years' probation by U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra Jr.
In July 2020, Kellogg provided her identification information and social security number to a co-conspirator, knowing that it would be used to obtain money she was not entitled to. After she provided her personal information, Kellogg received a check totaling $11,586 from the Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources. The money used to fund the check belonged to the United States as it was issued through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Kellogg did not reside or work in Puerto Rico and was therefore legally ineligible to receive Pandemic Unemployment Assistance funds from the Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources. In September 2020, Kellogg deposited the check into a checking account at an Inner Lakes Federal Credit Union bank in Westfield. She then withdrew some of the funds, which she provided to her co-defendants as part of the scheme. Kellogg kept $5,000 of illegally obtained federal funds for her own benefit. The Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources lost a total of $67,524 as a result of the scheme.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Franz M. Wright. The sentencing is the result of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Anthony Patrone, and the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Jonathan Mellone, Northeast Region. The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo.