CONCORD – New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon MacDonald and Department of Employment Security Commissioner George Copadis said Portsmouth resident Samuel Blake pleaded guilty and was sentenced on Monday in Rockingham County Superior Court on one count of unemployment compensation fraud, a Class A felony.

Officials said that from April 4, 2015 to July 26, 2015, Blake knowingly failed to disclose his employment and earnings to the Department of Employment Security in order to obtain or increase his unemployment compensation benefits, in that on 17 occasions he submitted a weekly continued claim form and answered “No” to the question: “Did you work or perform any services, including self-employment last week? Regardless of whether or not you have been paid for the work or services.” As a result, Blake fraudulently received $2,329 in unemployment benefits.

Blake was sentenced to 12 months in the House of Corrections, with all but 17 days suspended for six months, conditioned on good behavior, the payment of restitution and penalty totaling $2,794.80, and the use of his likeness in the Department of Employment Security Benefits and Rights Interview.