Dubuque Man Sentenced to 33 Months in Federal Prison for COVID-19 Unemployment Fraud
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Iowa announced that Jacob Michael Laufenberg, 36, of Dubuque, Iowa, was sentenced on October 28, 2026, to 33 months in federal prison for stealing government funds intended to aid unemployed workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. He received the prison term after a February 23, 2026, guilty plea to wire fraud.
Information from the guilty plea and sentencing hearings showed that in May 2020, Laufenberg applied for unemployment benefits in Iowa and subsequently received them until April 2021. While he was receiving unemployment benefits, he concealed his employment with two employers and the fact that he was incarcerated in a county jail for nearly two months. His false statements about his employment and custody status caused him to receive unemployment funds to which he was not entitled.
Laufenberg was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. He was ordered to make $17,102 in restitution to Iowa Workforce Development and must serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Laufenberg is being held in the United States Marshals Service custody until he can be transported to a federal prison. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyndra Lundquist and investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General. The case file number is 25-CR-1040. (Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 美国司法部总部大楼（联邦固定图库） / U.S. Department of Justice headquarters (federal fixed image library)
