FRESNO, CALIF. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - California, Eastern), published as received.
FRESNO, Calif. — Five Fresno residents have pleaded guilty to participating in a year-long bank fraud scheme that sought to defraud banks out of $1 million, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.
Zorian Temple, 25, pleaded guilty today to bank fraud. On Aug. 17, 2026, Davonntae Barfield, 31; Zion Brewer, 40; and Nyric Hinton, 28, also pleaded guilty. On Aug. 31, 2026, Harry Cooper Neal, 30, pleaded guilty.
According to court records, from 2022 to 2023, Brewer, a U.S. Postal Service employee, stole checks from the mail and gave them to the other defendants. The others then recruited bank account holders, or used their own bank accounts, to deposit the stolen checks and withdraw the proceeds. The defendants met each other and coordinated the scheme primarily through Facebook and Facebook Messenger.
In total, the stolen checks had a face value of more than $1 million. The actual loss to the banks, however, was a few hundred thousand dollars because the banks detected most of the stolen checks and stopped payment before the defendants could withdraw the funds.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, and the Fresno Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Barton is prosecuting the case.
U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston is scheduled to sentence Neal on Nov. 30, 2026, Barfield, Brewer, and Hinton on Dec. 7, 2026, and Temple on Jan. 11, 2027. The defendants face a maximum statutory penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million. The actual sentences, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
