Setauket man gets 13 months for unemployment insurance fraud

A Setauket man was sentenced Saturday to 13 months in prison for stealing more than $192,000 in unemployment insurance benefits, state officials said.

Paul Pappas was ordered to pay full restitution, plus fines, by next August, the state Department of Labor said in a release.

Pappas was also given three years of federal supervision and must enter into an approved mental health program.

He pleaded guilty to wire fraud in April.

Pappas created fictitious businesses in New York, Vermont and Florida, then submitted false unemployment insurance claims in those states using the identities of friends and family members, the department said.

Anyone with information about unemployment insurance fraud should call the Labor Department's toll-free hotline at 888-598-2077.