DENVER – A former U.S. Postal Service worker will have to complete 652 hours of community service at cancer treatment and research centers or hospices as part of her federal sentence after she pleaded guilty to faking cancer and taking 652 hours of work off or spending them working from home.
Caroline Z. Boyle, 60, of Highlands Ranch, will also serve 5 years of probation, which includes 6 months of house arrest and electronic monitoring, pay a $10,000 fine and pay nearly $21,000 in restitution to the U.S. Postal Service.
Boyle’s ruse began in 2015 after she was denied a promotion, when she told her boss that she had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and started taking “substantial” time off despite not actually being ill.
Over the next 20 months, she faked doctors' notes to continue getting sick leave and permission from her work to do it from home or on a part-time basis.
She expected to retire in April, but was caught by a USPS Office of the Inspector General on the last day of February. She was charged three days later. The U.S. Attorney’s Office of Colorado said Boyle had already planned a post-retirement cruise to Hawaii.
Boyle also had falsely accused one of her subordinates in the past of faking cancer, and denied that employee accommodations. The employee actually had cancer.
“This type of behavior within the Postal Service is not tolerated and the overwhelming majority of Postal Service employees, which serve the public, are honest, hardworking, and trustworthy individuals who would never consider engaging in any type of criminal behavior,” said Special Agent in Charge Scott Pierce. “The USPS OIG and U.S. Attorney’s Office remain committed to holding accountable anyone responsible for such violations.”