NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (AP) A woman who falsely claimed to be from Connecticut in order to collect more than $39,000 in unemployment compensation has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Prosecutors say 38-year-old Yveline Louissaint falsely claimed to be a U.S. citizen while collecting unemployment compensation benefits. The Day reports she was sentenced Thursday in New Britain to 18 months in prison for fraudulently collecting unemployment and for failing to appear in court for initial sentencing.

Louissaint was scheduled to be sentenced in 2015, but failed to appear in court and was rearrested in 2017.

Louissaint's arrests and convictions were the result of an investigation by the Unemployment Compensation Fraud Unit in the Office of the Chief State's Attorney.