Homer McCann Given Probation For Defrauding Wyoming Division Of Unemployment

A Mills man will avoid prison time after admitting to making unemployment claims when he was working.

Homer McCann was given a two-to-four year suspended prison sentence, with three years of probation, after he pleaded guilty to one count of obtaining benefits by fraud.

The State of Wyoming Special Investigation Unit alleges that McCann started receiving unemployment benefits around March of 2009.

Discrepancies were later found in his claims as early as January 2010.

McCann was working, and there was a difference in what he was reporting he earned, with what his place of employment was paying him.

The Unemployment Department started sending him over-payment notices ($5,300 in over payment, plus eventually $1,600 in penalties), and it wasn't until March of 2012 and January of 2013, that he started to repay a small amount of the money owed.

The SIU eventually found McCann and when interviewed, he said he was having difficulty making ends meet, thus he was collecting unemployment and still working, but he denied under-reporting his claims.

He has also been ordered to pay $7,400 plus in restitution.