A former U.S. Government Publishing Office contract employee has pleaded guilty after prosecutors said she used a government email account to create fake federal job offers for people trying to rent apartments in Washington, D.C.
Tisha Lee, 38, a Maryland resident, pleaded guilty June 16 in U.S. District Court to one count of second-degree fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Federal prosecutors said Lee worked as a contract employee in the Human Capital section of the U.S. Government Publishing Office from March 2025 to March 2026. She had a government email account, but prosecutors said she had no authority to issue or verify employment offers.
The fake letters were not sent for ordinary job hunting. Prosecutors said they were used by people applying for D.C. apartments, where a salary on federal letterhead could help an applicant appear qualified for a lease.
The Fake Offers Listed Salaries As High As $207,500
According to court documents, Lee used her government email account on at least 10 occasions to send false offer letters on GPO letterhead.
The letters were sent to people seeking to rent apartments in the District. Prosecutors said they falsely claimed the recipients had been offered GPO positions with salaries ranging from about $85,500 to $207,500 a year.
That salary range made the documents especially useful for apartment applications, where income can determine whether a renter qualifies for a lease.
Apartment Managers Contacted Her To Verify The Claims
The scheme did not stop with the fake letters.
When apartment management companies contacted Lee directly to verify the employment claims, prosecutors said she confirmed them. At least one person used one of Lee’s fraudulent letters to secure a lease at an apartment building in Southwest D.C., according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors also said Lee was paid by the people who benefited from the scheme.
A Real Email Address Was Not Enough Verification
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro described the scheme as more than paperwork fraud.
“Tisha Lee turned a federal government email address into a forgery shop, selling phony job offers so people could secure D.C. apartments they couldn’t legitimately afford,” Pirro said in the DOJ release. “That’s not a victimless con. It’s a fraud on every landlord and every honest renter playing by the rules.”
For leasing offices, the case shows why a real-looking letterhead and a government email reply should not be the end of employment verification. The Office of Personnel Management says each federal agency is responsible for employment verification for its current employees, and the employee should provide a point of contact from the employing agency.
That means an apartment manager can ask the applicant for an official agency verification contact, then confirm the person through a public agency website, HR office, or approved verification process rather than relying only on a contact printed in the applicant’s documents.
The Fraud Hit Landlords And Honest Renters
A fake job offer on government letterhead is one thing. A confirmation from a real government email account can make it far harder for a leasing office to spot the lie.
That kind of fraud can hurt landlords, property managers, and renters who apply with real income documents while competing in a tight housing market.
If a federal job offer appears suspicious, property managers can preserve the application, letter, email headers, phone numbers, payment records, and verification messages. The U.S. Government Publishing Office Office of Inspector General accepts complaints involving fraud, waste, and abuse tied to GPO programs or personnel.
Sentencing Is Scheduled For October
Lee pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta.
The second-degree fraud charge carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison, a $12,500 fine, and three years of supervised release. Her sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 19.
The investigation was conducted by the D.C. Fraud Cell, Homeland Security Investigations’ Washington Field Office, and the U.S. Government Publishing Office Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Deitch and Kevin Reddington prosecuted the case.
The case ended with a guilty plea, but the method is the part landlords may remember: federal letterhead, a government email account, and a person on the inside willing to verify claims she had no authority to make.