WOODLAWN — A U.S. Postal Service worker has been sentenced to six months in jail for stealing almost $200,000 in a workers' compensation scam, according to the Bronx District Attorney's Office.
Maria Chmielewski, a 40-year-old woman who has worked with the USPS since 2004 in The Bronx's Woodlawn Station, began collecting benefits from the U.S. Labor Department's Workers' Compensation Office in August of 2008, claiming that she suffered from agoraphobia, post-traumatic stress disorder and panic disorder, the Bronx DA's office said.
However, while she was receiving these benefits, Chmielewski took holiday cruises to Alaska and Canada, was spotted driving several times and completed a 10-month Practical Nursing program, according to prosecutors.
"The defendant claimed to be a ‘prisoner in her own home’ to defraud the government of tax-free benefits meant to help those truly unable to work," Bronx DA Darcel Clark said in a statement. "Now she must serve time in jail."
Chmielewski, who lives in Throggs Neck, was arrested in June 2014 after a joint investigation between the Bronx District Attorney's Office and the USPS Office of the Inspector General.
She was convicted of grand larceny and insurance fraud by a jury on Feb. 17 after an hour of deliberation and sentenced on Thursday to six months in jail and five years probation.
She must pay back $192,227.93 to the U.S. Department of Labor as well.
