MONTGOMERY – Alabama Department of Labor Commissioner Tom Surtees announced Friday the department has successfully prosecuted several Alabamians — including one from Selma — for unemployment compensation fraud.

Augustus J. Hatcher, of Selma, was tried in Dallas County District Court on April 1.

An investigation by Labor’s Benefit Payment Control Section determined Hatcher received a total of $2,560 in benefits to which he was not entitled.

Hatcher pled guilty and was sentenced to 180 days in jail, which was suspended for 18 months pending restitution and 18 months of unsupervised probation.

He was also ordered to pay court costs and restitution in the amount of benefits received illegally.

“In these economic times, we want to make sure that all who are entitled to benefits receive them. But at the same time, we will not allow those who deliberately try to defraud the system to go unpunished,” Surtees said. “We are working with local District Attorney Offices to make sure that we can identify and prosecute those individuals who are committing these crimes. We would also like to remind employers that their timely reporting of new hires is one of the best tools we have to detect unemployment fraud. ”

Suspected unemployment compensation fraud may be reported to the Alabama Department of Labor by calling (800) 392-8019.