XPost: alt.postalworkers, alt.society.labor-unions, sac.politics
XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh

The tale that Caroline Boyle started spinning in 2015 was grim.

She told colleagues that cancer attacked her white blood cells
and ravaged her immune system, leaving Boyle too weak to come
into work at the U.S. Postal Service office in Aurora, Colo.
Boyle needed to rest and work from home, according to notes
scribbled by her doctor.

But there was one problem that later confirmed Boyle, 60, had
constructed an elaborate ruse. The doctor’s name was misspelled
in a note presumably detailing Boyle’s non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma,
and the signature was botched.

Boyle was convicted of fraud Tuesday, brought down by USPS
investigators. A district judge handed down a sentence of five
years of probation that includes six months of home confinement
with an electronic monitor, along with a $10,000 fine and
restitution of exactly $20,798.38, acting U.S. Attorney for
Colorado Bob Troyer said in a statement.

That restitution figure represents “some or most” of the amount
Boyle claimed for administrative sick leave she was wrongly
paid, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Colorado office Jeff
Dorschner told The Washington Post.

A Justice Department official familiar with the case said one
aspect of Boyle’s sentencing from U.S. District Judge Raymond P.
Moore was unique. Moore ordered her to serve 652 hours of
community service at a cancer treatment center, cancer research
center or hospice — which is precisely how many hours of
falsified sick leave she took.

Moore is fond of meting out symbolic and poetic justice, the
official said, adding that Boyle confessed to USPS investigators
after being confronted with proof, including the forged doctor’s
notes, and an executed search warrant that yielded no proof she
was suffering from cancer.

Boyle has worked for USPS since 1991, according to court
filings. Her plan was to continue defrauding the government with
sick leave until her retirement in April, which she planned to
celebrate with a Hawaiian cruise, Dorschner said.

Boyle’s exhausted sick leave and other issues drew suspicion,
and inquiries were launched in February. She pleaded guilty to
charges on April 28.

The wrongdoing goes even deeper, Dorschner said.

A subordinate whom Boyle falsely accused of faking cancer
testified against her, he said, adding that the employee really
did have cancer. Boyle denied her the same kind of
accommodations, like working from home and extended sick leave,
that Boyle herself fraudulently used. That incident took place
before Boyle began her scheme.

Her lawyer David Owen, Jr. declined to comment. In a statement,
USPS officials described Boyle’s scheme as a rare affront to the
honesty of the majority of USPS employees.

“The American public trusts that U.S. Postal Service employees
will obey the law. This type of behavior within the Postal
Service is not tolerated and the overwhelming majority of Postal
Service employees, which serve the public, are honest,
hardworking, and trustworthy individuals who would never
consider engaging in any type of criminal behavior,” Executive
Special Agent in Charge Scott Pierce said in a statement.

The Justice official familiar with the case offered tongue-in-
cheek advice.

“If you’re going to defraud the government with a doctor’s note,
make sure to spell the name right,” the official said.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/08/23/a- postal-worker-faked-cancer-and-got-paid-to-miss-two-years-of- work-heres-how-a-judge-punished- her/?tid=hybrid_mostsharedarticles_2_na&utm_term=.f029c140680b

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