Press Release
TEN CONVICTED AND SENTENCED IN CONNECTION WITH FRAUDULENTLY ALTERED CHECK AND BANK FRAUD SCHEME INVOLVING MAILBOX BREAK-INS
September 8, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jeffrey H. Sloman, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Henry Gutierrez, Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Miami Division, announced the September 3, 2009, sentencing of defendant Melinda Loray, and the August 31, 2009 sentencing of defendants Desman Stanley, Rodney Wiggins, Tammy Lawrence, Tamika Singletary, Katrina Mason, Sabonis Wright, Dorothea Wright, and Scotty Borden, all of Pompano Beach, for their participation in a mail theft and bank fraud scheme.
On September 3, 2009, U.S. District Court Judge James I. Cohn sentenced Melinda Loray, 24, to 72 months in prison, to be followed by 5 years of supervised release, for her role as the organizer/leader of a massive bank fraud and mail theft scheme. Previously, on August 31, 2009, defendant Desman Stanley, 28, was sentenced to 57 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release; Rodney Wiggins, 23, was sentenced to 51 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release; Tammy Lawrence, 39, was sentenced to 24 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release; Tamika Singletary, 20, was sentenced to 33 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release; Katrina Mason, 34, was sentenced to 30 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release; Sabonis Wright, 21, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release; Dorothea Wright, 37, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release; and Scotty Borden, 43, was sentenced to 27 months in prison. All sentences are to be followed by 3 years of supervised release.
According to court documents and statements made in open court, between April 2007 and December 2008, defendants Rodney Wiggins, Desman Stanley, and Joseph Carter broke into mailboxes located at industrial or business parks and removed any checks they found, discarding the remaining mail. These stolen checks were then delivered to Melinda Loray, who altered the stolen checks. Thereafter, defendants Katrina Mason, Tammy Lawrence, Tamika Singletary, Sabonis Wright, and Dorothea Wright recruited individuals to cash the stolen and altered checks. After the checks were cashed, the defendants split the proceeds between themselves, the check cashers, and others involved with this conspiracy. Defendant Scotty Borden was one of a network of check cashers. Ultimately, the scheme resulted in more than $200,000 in fraud losses.
Defendant Joseph Carter, 36, the tenth and final defendant indicted and convicted in connection with this case, is scheduled to be sentenced on September 25, 2009 at 2p.m.
Mr. Sloman commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Anton.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
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