A former resident of Fort Worth, Texas, Mark Alan Valles, has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for his involvement in a scheme to fraudulently obtain unemployment benefits from the U.S. Department of Labor. The sentencing was announced by United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould.
Valles, 51, pleaded guilty in October 2025 to conspiring to steal government funds. On February 20, 2026, Chief U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor sentenced him to 60 months in prison and ordered him to pay $407,724 in restitution to the U.S. Department of Labor and the Small Business Administration.
“This defendant exploited government programs and stole funds intended to aid Americans during a critical economic period in this country,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould. “I applaud the diligent work of our law enforcement partners in uncovering the fraud scheme and seeing justice done in this case.”
Anthony P. D’Esposito, Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General, commented on the case: “Mark Valles conspired with others to defraud the Texas Workforce Commission, U.S. Government, and the American taxpayers in an unemployment insurance fraud scheme that enriched himself at a time when millions of Americans desperately needed the money,” he stated. “My office is committed to protecting the integrity of the unemployment insurance program by vigorously pursuing those who commit this type of fraud. Fraud will not be tolerated. Accountability is not optional.”
According to court documents, between April 2020 and September 2021, Valles and his associates used stolen personal information from at least 44 victims to submit false applications for unemployment insurance benefits administered by the Texas Workforce Commission and funded by the Department of Labor. The fraudulent claims totaled $899,719 and were loaded onto debit cards sent to addresses accessible by Valles or his co-conspirators. They then retrieved these cards and withdrew cash from various ATMs around Fort Worth and nearby areas, resulting in losses exceeding $407,000 for the government.
The investigation involved multiple agencies including the U.S. Department of Labor-Office of Inspector General, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Department of Homeland Security–Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark McDonald prosecuted the case.
