Dee Ann Peters Pleads Guilty To Defrauding Wyoming Division Of Unemployment

A Casper woman has admitted to filing unemployment claims when she was working.

Fifty-five year old Dee Ann Peters has pleaded guilty to one charge of obtaining benefits by fraud.

Agents with the State of Wyoming Special Investigation Unit say in July 2008, Peters started receiving unemployment checks.

An audit later showed she was employed from April through July of 2009, but she reported that she made no money during that time.

When Peters was contacted by the Unemployment Division, she said times and life were tough and added she felt entitled to the unemployment insurance benefits.

The Division then started sending over-payment notices, but they did not receive anything back from her.

Eventually, the SIU got involved and Peters said she made a mistake, wasn't thinking rationally at the time, and knew what she did was wrong.

As part of a plea deal, prosecutors will argue for first time offender's status, which means if peters completes one-to-five years of probation and pays restitution (to be determined later, but is estimated to be around $9,000 with penalties), the guilty conviction will be cleared from her record.

Peters is free on $3,000 bond and will be sentenced at a later date.