Dude Catches Federal Case for Lying about Covid

Consider the juxtaposition.

Last week, we wrote about people whose convictions were reversed because their conduct, while wrong, didn’t quite fit the crime. They made a mistake and lied—rather egregiously—but it wasn’t wire fraud because they didn’t do it to obtain money or property from the other side. Fair enough.

This week, we couldn’t help but notice the story of this guy, who’s been charged with wire fraud for telling his employer he had Covid so he could play hooky. Wire fraud?

If you read the affidavit, it’s pretty clear he lied so he could get out of work for a couple weeks. I don’t think he lied to obtain money or property any more than people have when they call in sick so they can run a bunch of errands. His motives may not have been as noble. He probably wanted a vacation—or staycation, anyway.

So he made a mistake, and now we’ve made a federal case out of it.