WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — The man who claimed he was duped into stealing thousands in COVID-19 relief money has been sentenced to prison.
Daniel Wasielewski, 59, of Wilkes-Barre, was sentenced Thursday to 24 months in prison for his role in defrauding the federal government out of roughly $350,000 by filing phony applications seeking COVID-19-related relief funds.
Wasielewski’s public defender, Leo Latella, asked for leniency by arguing his client was just another mark used by a bigger criminal.
According to a memorandum filed Monday, Wasielewski was promised love by the scheme’s mastermind — a person or group going by the online pseudonym “Charlet.” Chronically online and addicted to internet relationships, Wasielewski was duped into becoming a “money mule,” his attorney argued.
“So deep was his addiction that he was blind to the deceit by ‘Charlet,’ something that would be evident to any right-thinking person,” Latella wrote in his memorandum. “Daniel’s own father saw through it and even warned him, his comments to the probation officer were spot-on: ‘How did he even know this person was a woman? Because they sent him some pictures? I warned him that it was a scam. I told him he was being stupid.’”
The thefts took place between March 2020 and March 2022. Prosecutors said he fraudulently obtained about $350,000 and funneled it to cryptocurrency, cash withdrawals, and personal expenses.
Banking and law enforcement officials successfully froze and recovered approximately $150,000 of the stolen funds, and Wasielewski was ordered to pay restitution to the remaining victims.
Wasielewski also was sentenced to serve a three-year term of supervised release following imprisonment.
