Two Dayton residents are among 10 people each indicted on one count of theft of federal funds and one count of wire fraud accusing them of stealing thousands in government unemployment funds.

Erik L. Alexander, 42 and Ralph I. Griffin III, 46, are both accused of fraudulently collecting unemployment from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services while they were actually employed.

According to indictments unsealed Wednesday, Alexander collected $16,557 between March 2009 and February 2010 while employed.

Griffin collected $20,375 between June 2008 and January 2010 while employed with various companies.

They are charged with wire fraud for using a telephone or the Internet to make the fraudulent claims.

The charges were filed as the result of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

The benefits stolen consisted of a combination of Ohio unemployment insurance funds and federal funds available to unemployed workers through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, passed by Congress in February 2009, according to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

Alexander and Griffin will be summoned along with eight other defendants statewide to appear in federal court on the charges.

Conviction on a wire fraud charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Theft of government funds carries a maximum potential punishment of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

ODJFS Director Michael Colbert urged anyone who suspects fraud to file a report at unemployment.gov/fraud. Reports can be anonymous.