Staff reports 8:34 a.m.
Thursday, September 26, 2019 8:36 am

CONCORD - A Portsmouth man will spend 17 days in jail after pleading guilty on Monday to unemployment compensation fraud.

Samuel Blake, of Portsmouth, pleaded guilty and was sentenced in Rockingham County Superior Court.

Between April 4, 2015 and July 26, 2015, Blake knowingly failed to disclose his employment and earnings to the Department of Employment Security in order to obtain or increase his unemployment compensation benefits, according to a release from Attorney General Gordon J. MacDonald and Department of Employment Security Commissioner George Copadis.

On 17 occasions court records show he submitted a weekly continued claim form and answered "No" to the question: "Did you work or perform any services, including self-employment last week? (Regardless of whether or not you have been paid for the work or services.)

As a result, Blake fraudulently received $2,329.00 in unemployment benefits, the release states.

Blake was sentenced to 12 months in the House of Corrections, with all but 17 days suspended for 6 months, conditioned on good behavior, the payment of restitution and penalty totaling $2,794.80, and the use of his likeness in the Department of Employment Security Benefits and Rights Interview, which discusses the ramifications of committing unemployment fraud. He is disqualified from receiving unemployment compensation benefits for 52 weeks.