Fayetteville Check Fraud Ringleader Sentenced to Prison

WILMINGTON, N.C. – A Fayetteville, North Carolina man, Alvester Aaron Williams, Jr., was sentenced today to 44 months’ imprisonment and five years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit bank fraud.  On May 24, 2023, Williams pleaded guilty to the charge. 

According to court documents and other information presented in court, the United States Postal Inspection Service initiated an investigation of Williams following a state probation search of Williams’s hotel room in Fayetteville.  The search recovered approximately 500 stolen checks and other pieces of stolen mail, X-ACTO blades for altering the checks, over a dozen debit cards in the names of other people, and bank account usernames and passwords.  At the time of the search, Williams was on state probation for obtaining property by false pretense related to the theft and alteration of checks, among other convictions.  Analysis of the stolen checks, together with other evidence, indicated that Williams resumed his check fraud activities shortly after the imposition of his state sentence.

According to the subsequent federal investigation, between approximately July 2020 and August 2021, William conspired with others to steal checks from mailboxes in and around Fayetteville, alter the checks to reflect the names of co-conspirators (i.e., money mules), change the payment amounts, deposit the checks into co-conspirator accounts, and withdraw the proceeds at ATMs.  When law enforcement authorities arrested Williams on the federal indictment, Williams was found in possession of 97 stolen checks, multiple debit cards in the names of other people, and X-ACTO blades.

Michael Easley, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement after sentencing by Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II. The United States Postal Inspection Service, based in Raleigh, North Carolina, investigated the case.  Assistant United States Attorney Adam F. Hulbig prosecuted the case for the government.

Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:22-CR-227-M

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