BALTIMORE, Oct. 5 -- The U.S. Department of Justice's Federal Bureau of Investigation Baltimore Field Office issued the following press release:
A 36-year-old Carnation, Washington, man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to three years in prison for wire fraud, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft for his two distinct fraud schemes to steal pandemic unemployment benefits and steal the home, bank assets, and stock portfolio of a deceased Seattle victim. Tyler Lee Berens pleaded guilty in July 2026. At today's sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge John H. Chun noted these were "addiction-fueled" crimes that were nonetheless serious and had wide-reaching ramifications on the government and the victim.
Bere...