A West Lebanon woman received a suspended prison sentence and was ordered to pay restitution to the New Hampshire Department of Employment Security for committing unemployment compensation fraud in concert with her boyfriend.
Hannah Vanalstyne, 42, entered a guilty plea to one felony count of unemployment compensation fraud in connection with a scheme in which she helped Peter Mancini, 48, submit false unemployment claims and collect benefit checks while locked up in Grafton County Jail for a separate offense in January of this year.
In total, Mancini collected more than $11,000 in unemployment compensation, including over $2,000 after his incarceration.
Department of Employment Security investigators identified Mancini in March through a monthly review of jail rosters, discovering that after filing for unemployment in August 2025, he represented that an offer of employment was rescinded through no fault of his own.
Rather, he lost a job opportunity at Nissan of Lebanon after he had been caught stealing parts from a truck, according to the affidavit in support of the charges.
Stemming from that incident, Mancini entered guilty pleas in January to receiving stolen property and a probation violation; court records show he was on probation at the time for a 2022 felony conviction of witness tampering. He was taken into custody to serve a six-month sentence in Grafton County Jail.
From when he was incarcerated through February, when his benefits were exhausted, Mancini, with the help of his girlfriend, Vanalstyne, “acted in concert to represent that Mancini performed work searches and/or was available and able to work without restrictions, omitting that Mancini was incarcerated,” according to the affidavit.
At Mancini’s request, Vanalstyne certified weekly that he was “available to work” and was “physically and mentally able to work without any restrictions” while he was in jail, investigators found.
On Mancini’s behalf, she attested that he was searching for jobs during this period, although he was prohibited from computer or internet access in jail.
Mancini and Vanalstyne discussed unemployment benefits over jail calls, including asking and reminding her to file his weekly claims on the computer in their West Lebanon residence, according to the affidavit.
In August, Judge Lawrence MacLeod accepted Peter Mancini’s guilty pleas to felony charges of unemployment compensation fraud and perjury, the Valley News previously reported.
He was sentenced to 2 1/2 to five years in state prison for submitting false unemployment claims, concurrent with a brought-forward 2022 sentence from the aforementioned witness tampering case, along with 1 1/2 years for the perjury charge suspended for 10 years.
He was also ordered to pay more than $11,000 in restitution to the New Hampshire Department of Employment Security.
For Vanalstyne’s role in the scheme, the state argued for 90 days in jail with nine months suspended for three years. The defense asked for all 12 months suspended for three years, court documents show.
Both sides agreed on Vanalstyne paying $1,537 in restitution, along with more than $2,000 in fines to be suspended for three years.
Phone and email efforts to reach both the Attorney General’s Office, prosecuting the case, and Vanalstyne’s attorney, Don Topham of Concord, were not successful on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Grafton Superior Court Judge Jonathan Frizzell sentenced Vanalstyne to 12 months in jail and a fine of over $2,000, all suspended for three years on the condition of good behavior and compliance with probation.
She was also ordered to pay $1,537 to the New Hampshire Department of Employment Security.
For one year from the date of sentencing, she is disqualified from unemployment benefits.
A voicemail left for Vanalstyne was not returned.
