BOSTON - A Boston man has been sentenced for fraudulently depositing checks stolen from the mail, defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a COVID-related relief program, and defrauding the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.

Tyrone Brimage, 28, was sentenced on Jan. 23, 2026 by Senior District Court Judge Patti B. Saris to one year and one day in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Brimage was also ordered to pay $67,022 in restitution. In January 2025, Brimage pleaded guilty to two counts of bank fraud and three counts of wire fraud.

In July 2020, Brimage submitted two fraudulent unemployment claims, claiming that his employment was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time of these applications, Brimage was incarcerated at the Norfolk County Jail for an unrelated criminal case. The Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance paid Brimage $43,155 as a result of this fraudulent claim before realizing that Brimage had submitted multiple fraudulent claims using different social security numbers.

In October 2020, Brimage attempted to deposit a payroll check that appeared to be issued by the City of Boston for $16,427 into his personal checking account. The clerk for the City of Boston confirmed that the check was fraudulent and that Brimage was never a city employee.

In May 2021, Brimage submitted a fraudulent PPP application for a barber shop that he never owned. In June 2021, he obtained a $20,832 loan for "payroll costs, rent interest, and utilities," for this fake barber shop.

In July 2023, Brimage fraudulently deposited a $3,032 check stolen from the mail into a bank account that he controlled. The check issuer confirmed that the check was stolen from the mail. One day after the fraudulent deposit, Brimage withdrew cash obtained from the deposit.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Thomas A. Greco, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Boston Field Division; Nicholas Bucciarelli, Acting Inspector in Charge for the Boston Office of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and Russell W. Cunningham Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General Mid-Atlantic Region made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Boston and Wellesley Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lucy Sun and Philip C. Cheng of the Criminal Division prosecuted the case.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Boston is comprised of agents and officers from HSI, FBI, DEA, ATF, USMS, IRS-CI, USPIS, DOL-OIG and DSS, as well as several state and local law enforcement agencies, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts.