ST. LOUIS — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Missouri, Eastern), published as received.
ST. LOUIS – Three men who were involved in a conspiracy to steal checks from the mail and deposit them into fraudulently-opened bank accounts were sentenced to prison Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Joshua M. Divine sentenced Isaiah W. Douglas, 25, of Champaign, Ill. to 39 months in prison, Luis A. Franco-Gonzalez, 26, of Rantoul, Ill., to 34 months in prison and Isaiah B. Handford, 28, to 33 months.
Douglas and others stole checks, or caused them to be stolen, from U.S. Postal Service collection boxes in and around St. Louis. Handford and Franco-Gonzalez then posed as representatives of the victim businesses and opened or tried to open bank accounts with fraudulent documents supplied by Douglas.
On June 12, 2023, Handford entered a St. Louis bank and applied to open a business account by falsely claiming that he was an owner and registered agent of one of the victim businesses. Suspicious bank officials refused to open the account. That same day, Franco-Gonzalez was successful in opening an account at a different bank in Chesterfield and depositing a $312,677 check.
The following day, Franco-Gonzalez unsuccessfully tried to open an account at a bank in Creve Coeur before fleeing the bank on foot. Police arrested Handford in a getaway car close to the bank and then found and arrested Franco-Gonzalez in a Ford Explorer in the parking lot of a nearby hotel. The Explorer contained a handgun and fraudulent paperwork in the name of one of the victims. Officers found Douglas at the hotel, carrying a backpack and a duffel bag that contained more fraudulent paperwork, a handgun and 53 loose checks, money orders, and envelopes that had been stolen from collection boxes. In hotel rooms used by the conspirators, police found more stolen mail and an additional stolen check.
Douglas and his co-defendants admitted that they intended to cause a loss of at least $581,123, based on the value of stolen checks deposited into unauthorized business accounts and the stolen checks recovered by police. They ultimately failed to make any money from the scheme, however.
The case is the latest prosecution of those responsible for mail theft and whose conduct takes advantage of the public's reliance on a vital government service, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow wrote in sentencing memo.
“The sentencing in this case illustrates that individuals who engage in mail theft will be held accountable for their actions,” stated Inspector in Charge, Nicholas Bucciarelli, who leads the Chicago Division, which includes the St. Louis Domicile Office. “The Postal Inspection Service is proud to work with our local, state, and federal partners to bring mail theft perpetrators to justice and prevent financial crimes targeting local citizens, postal customers, and financial institutions.”
Douglas pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of possession of stolen mail matter. Franco-Gonzalez and Handford pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement to a financial institution.
The Creve Coeur Police Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow prosecuted the case.
