Spokane – Joseph H. Harrington, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced today that Brendon M. McCullough, age 22, of Spokane, Washington, was sentenced after having pleaded guilty on July 20, 2017, to conspiracy to commit bank fraud. United States District Judge Salvador Mendoza Jr. sentenced McCullough to a 12-month term of imprisonment, to be followed by a 5-year term of court supervision following release from Federal prison. The Court also ordered McCullough to pay $26,106 in restitution. During the sentencing hearing, Judge Mendoza stated that McCullough’s conduct caused a “loss of privacy, money and security” and “affected a whole lot of folks.” McCullough has been in custody since January 17, 2017.

According to information disclosed during court proceedings, McCullough and his conspirators stole bank credit/debit cards, checks, and PINs from mailboxes and used the stolen financial information to withdraw funds from victims’ bank accounts. McCullough and his conspirators also used stolen financial account information to transfer funds between victims’ accounts before making withdrawals, and forged and altered checks to enrich himself and other members of the conspiracy. Approximately twenty bank customers were affected.

Joseph H. Harrington said, “Prosecuting bank fraud and other white collar crime continues to be a high priority for our office. I commend the investigators from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, and Spokane Police Department for their excellent investigative work on this case. We will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to aggressively prosecute financial crimes in the Eastern District of Washington.”

This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, and Spokane Police Department. This case was prosecuted by George J.C. Jacobs, III, Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington.