BOP Cook Supervisor Indicted and Arrested for Theft of Public Money

On November 17, 2020, a BOP Cook Supervisor at the United States Penitentiary Thomson in Illinois, who was previously a Senior Correctional Officer assigned to the Metropolitan Detention Center Brooklyn in New York, was arrested following an Indictment charging her with two counts of theft of public money.  Keyawnia Ross was indicted in the Eastern District of New York.  According to the Indictment, from in or about February 2019 through in or about July 2019, Keyawnia Ross submitted false claims for unemployment benefits to the New York State (NYS) Department of Labor (DOL).  In each submission, Ross certified that she was unemployed, available to take on new work and eligible for benefits when, in fact, she was employed by the BOP, reporting to work, and receiving her federal salary.  As a result, Ross received and retained more than $9,600 in unemployment benefits from the NYS DOL.  The DOJ reimbursed the NYS DOL for all unemployment benefits payments made to BOP employees.  Accordingly, all of the unemployment benefits that Ross received were moneys of the federal government.  Also according to the Indictment, from in or about May 2020 through in or about June 2020, Ross again submitted false claims for unemployment benefits to the NYS DOL.  As before, Ross certified that she was unemployed, available to work and eligible for benefits when, in fact, she was employed by the BOP, reporting to work and receiving her federal salary.  As a result, Ross received and retained more than $8,100 in unemployment benefits from the NYS DOL, including Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation benefits.  All of the unemployment benefits that Ross received were moneys of the federal government.  The investigation is being conducted by the OIG’s Boston Area Office and the U.S. DOL OIG New York Regional Office.