A Chelsea man pleaded guilty yesterday to fraudulently accepting more than $46,000 in unemployment insurance benefits.

Oscar P. Valles-Lopez had been charged with mail fraud. Valles-Lopez is an El Salvadorian national who illegally reentered the United States in July 2003 after previously living in this country from 1996 to 2001. After working for several years under fraudulently obtained immigration papers, he lost his job in 2009. He then paid $400 for a false work permit and made three claims for benefits in 2009, 2010 and 2012. Over the course of several years, Valles-Lopez cashed 111 unemployment checks totaling $46,218.

Valles-Lopez entered into a plea agreement with the government in which the parties agreed to recommend a sentence of one year of probation with the special condition that the first four months be served under home confinement. He also agreed to restitution in the full amount of the benefits obtained under the scheme.

Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 13.