Concord, NH – Attorney General Gordon J. MacDonald and Department of Employment Security Commissioner George Copadis announce that Timothy Sullivan, age 54, of Merrimack, New Hampshire, pleaded guilty and was sentenced Tuesday, November 13, 2018, in the Hillsborough County Superior Court, Southern District, to one felony count of unemployment compensation fraud.

Between January 26, 2013 and July 22, 2013, Mr. Sullivan filed for 23 weeks of unemployment compensation benefits while knowingly failing to report his employment in order to obtain or increase his benefits. As a result, he fraudulently received $9,821.00 in unemployment benefits.

Following a capped plea, Mr. Sullivan was sentenced to 12 months in the house of corrections, with all but 20 days deferred for six months and then suspended for two years. The balance of the sentence was deferred conditioned on good behavior, the use of his likeness in the Department of Employment Security Benefits Rights Interview which discusses the ramifications of committing unemployment fraud, and the payment of restitution plus a 20% penalty, totaling $11,785.20.

Mr. Sullivan is also disqualified from the receipt of unemployment compensation benefits for 52 weeks, must obtain a mental health evaluation within 90 days from his release from jail, and must comply with any recommended follow-up stemming from that evaluation.

The Department of Employment Security provides unemployment compensation benefits to eligible claimants who are unemployed through no fault of their own. The Department investigates and prosecutes both criminal and civil unemployment compensation fraud with the goal of protecting New Hampshire's unemployment compensation trust fund.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Heather A. Cherniske, of the Criminal Justice Bureau.