FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
AUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC or
MARCIA MURPHY at 410-209-4885
June 11, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONSPIRATOR SENTENCED IN SCHEME TO CASH OVER $100,000 IN TREASURY CHECKS STOLEN FROM THE MAIL
Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake sentenced Derrick Taylor, age 43, of Baltimore, today to 51 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to commit mail fraud and aggravated identity theft, in connection with a scheme to steal treasury checks from the mail and cash the checks using false identity documents, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. Judge Blake also ordered Taylor to pay restitution of $104,446.35.
According to Taylor’s plea agreement, beginning in April 2006, and continuing until May 2007, Taylor was involved in a scheme to take United States Treasury checks from the mail and, using fraudulent identification documents, cash those checks at local check cashing establishments by posing as the intended recipient of the check. As his part of the scheme, Taylor assisted in providing fake Maryland driver’s licenses for use by other members of the conspiracy who cashed stolen Treasury checks, each fake license bearing the photograph of the co-conspirator who was cashing a stolen Treasury check and the name and address of the intended recipient of the stolen Treasury check. Taylor acted as a middleman: receiving orders for the fraudulent identification documents and providing those orders to the document producer; taking the completed fraudulent identification documents and delivering them to the person who had placed the order; and collecting the payment for the documents and providing the payment to the individual who provided the fake documents. Taylor also assisted in getting checks cashed, either by finding someone to cash the checks, assisting in getting their photograph for the fraudulent identification document, or by accompanying them to the location where they would attempt to negotiate the stolen Treasury check.
Over the course of the scheme Taylor and the other members of the scheme cashed over $100,000 in stolen United States Treasury checks.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General; the U.S. Secret Service; the Department of Transportation - Office of Inspector General; and the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Inspector General for their investigative work. Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant United States Attorneys Tamera L. Fine and Emily Glatfelter, who are prosecuting the case.