July 1, 2025
Staff
June 30, 2025
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together with New York State Inspector General Lucy Lang, announced that a Brooklyn woman employed as a NYS Correction Officer has been arraigned on an indictment in which she is charged with grand larceny, scheme to defraud, falsifying business records and related charges for stealing approximately $43,000 in benefits over the last four years.
“Workers’ compensation benefits exist to support those who are truly injured and unable to work, not to be exploited for personal gain,” Gonzalez said. “This defendant’s alleged conduct is a serious betrayal of the public trust, and we will seek to hold her fully accountable. This case sends a strong message that we will investigate and prosecute fraud wherever we find it, especially when committed by those sworn to uphold the law. I’m grateful to Inspector General Lang and her team, and to our prosecutors, for their work on this case.”
“Correction officers hold positions of public trust and should be expected to uphold the highest standards of integrity. This officer both violated that trust and undermined public confidence in her profession by fraudulently collecting workers’ compensation benefits while running a business at the same time,” Lang added. “Thank you to my team, and to District Attorney Gonzalez and his office for their partnership in safeguarding public resources and accountability in State prisons.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Jahmelia Mattison John, 42, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
She was arraigned before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Gershuny on a 23-count indictment in which she is charged with two counts of third-degree grand larceny, first-degree scheme to defraud, five counts of first-degree falsifying business records, five counts of first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, five counts of penalties for fraudulent practices and five counts of third-degree insurance fraud. The defendant was released without bail and ordered to return to court on Aug. 13, 2025.
Between June 10, 2021 and June 6, 2025, John, assigned to the Queensboro Correctional Facility at the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS), collected $43,382.79 in benefits from both DOCCS and the New York State Insurance Fund by falsely claiming she was unable to work due to on duty injuries.
It is alleged that while collecting workers’ compensation benefits, the defendant made extra money from a hair braiding business she advertised on social media. An undercover operation led by the NYS IG’s office claims to have recorded the defendant actively braiding the undercover’s hair, directly contradicting the defendant’s claimed disability.
The defendant has been employed as a Correction Officer for approximately 17 years.
The case was investigated by New York State Inspector General staff, including Senior Investigator Anne Peters, Investigator Mario Rubino and Digital Forensic Investigator Colin Corrado, working under the supervision of Attorney-in-Charge for Workers’ Compensation Fraud Bryan Richmond and Chief of Investigations for the New York City and Long Island Regions Ben Defibaugh.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Pamela Lowe of the District Attorney’s Public Integrity Bureau, under the supervision of Deputy Bureau Chief Assistant District Attorney Adam Libove and Bureau Chief Assistant District Attorney Laura Neubauer, and the overall supervision of Deputy Chief of the District Attorney’s Investigations Division Assistant District Attorney Michel Spanakos and Chief of the Investigations Division Assistant District Attorney Patricia McNeill.