Sacramento Men Plead Guilty to Bank Fraud and Identity Theft Scheme Using Stolen U.S. Mail

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Billee Vang, 26, and Dang Vue, 27, both of Sacramento, pleaded guilty today to a fraud scheme that involved manufacturing postal service locks and keys in order to steal U.S. Mail, steal identities and defraud financial institutions, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

Vang and Vue each pleaded guilty to bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, theft of stolen U.S. mail, stealing and reproducing postal service locks and keys, and unlawful possession of at least five identification documents for fraudulent purposes.

According to court documents, between January 13, 2017, and May 12, 2017, Vang and Vue stole mail throughout Sacramento and Placer Counties, including neighborhoods in Roseville, Elk Grove, and Sacramento. As part of their criminal scheme, Vang and Vue stole Postal Service locks and used them to reverse engineer counterfeit keys to facilitate theft of mail from neighborhood mailbox units.

Vang and Vue used the stolen mail, including checks and identification documents, to take over victim bank and credit accounts. Additionally, Vang and Vue used and attempted to use access devices, credit card convenience checks, and personal checks that had been stolen from postal customers to conduct unauthorized transactions at the expense of federally insured financial institutions.

This case is the product of investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service with assistance from the Elk Grove Police Department, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, and the Roseville Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Rodriguez is prosecuting this case.

Vang and Vue are scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. on February 16, 2018. Each defendant faces up to 30 years in prison for the bank fraud convictions, a mandatory consecutive two years in prison for aggravated identity theft. They also face up to five years in prison for theft of U.S. Mail, 10 years in prison for stealing and reproducing postal service locks and keys, and 15 years in prison for possessing over five identity documents for purposes of fraud.