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Carol A. Aguja, a former U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) immigration services officer, pleaded guilty to wire fraud involving more than $60,000 from AFGE Local 38, her former union, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. Sentencing is scheduled for January 7, 2027.
What Aguja admitted and who was affected
Aguja, 55, of Reading, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston on October 1, 2026. She was treasurer of American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 38 from approximately 2015 through August 2024. The local represented USCIS employees living in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says the fraud took place from 2019 through 2024, when Aguja diverted union money for personal and other non-union expenses. The government describes her conduct as including personal spending on a union credit card, cash withdrawals, transfers to personal accounts, use of personal accounts to pay some union expenses, commingling funds, and falsification of annual financial forms. The total the government says she stole over five years was more than $60,000. U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, October 2, 2026
What the DOJ says the money was used for
The government’s account includes several distinct transaction figures. They describe different ways the funds moved or were spent; the DOJ does not present them as an exact additive breakdown of the total.
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| Transaction type | Amount reported by DOJ | Examples or details |
|---|---|---|
| Personal charges on union credit card | Approximately $12,508 | Restaurant meals, bills, clothing, and dance lessons |
| Cash withdrawals | 128 withdrawals totaling over $23,700 | Withdrawals from the union account |
| Transfers to personal accounts | Over $25,000 | Transfers from the union account |
The DOJ also says Aguja paid some union expenses from personal accounts, commingled funds, and falsified annual financial forms. Those details form part of the government’s description of the scheme, but the announcement does not assign separate dollar amounts to them. U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, October 2, 2026
What happens next
Sentencing is scheduled for January 7, 2027. That is a scheduled court date, not a sentence already imposed.
Wire fraud carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The DOJ also lists restitution and forfeiture. These are maximum statutory penalties, not a prediction of Aguja’s sentence; the court will determine the sentence at a later proceeding. U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, October 2, 2026
How the case status changed
On August 20, 2026, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced that Aguja had agreed to plead guilty, and described the case at that time in allegation-stage terms. She subsequently entered her guilty plea on October 1. The August release said: “The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the court of law.” That statement described the case before the plea; the later release reports the plea and the government’s account of the conduct. U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, August 20, 2026
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