9/28/2017 SACRAMENTO, Calif. —Michael McCree, 65, of Vacaville, CA, pleaded guilty today to one count of mail fraud, United States Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, McCree worked for the United States Post Office for approximately six months in 1988 and 1989, before he filed a workers’ compensation claim for an alleged back injury. Since 1989, the Department of Labor, on behalf of the Postal Service, has been paying McCree monthly wage loss compensation and reimbursements for medical-related travel. The indictment alleges that from January 2007 through June 2012, McCree received over $120,000 in reimbursements for medical-related travel, but that McCree in fact did not travel to the location listed and further did not receive medical treatment at the location in any event.

This case was the product of an investigation by the United States Postal Service-Office of Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney Todd A. Pickles is prosecuting the case.

McCree is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Troy L. Nunley on January 11, 2018. McCree faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.