Two Cleveland residents sentenced to prison after stealing identities to defraud bank out of $76,000

Two Cleveland residents were sentenced to prison for defrauding a bank out of at least $76,000 by using fake identities, said U.S. Attorney Justin E. Herdman.

Delon Roberson, 26, was sentenced to nearly four years in prison while Shameka Roberson, 27, was sentenced to more than three years in prison. Both were ordered to pay $765,399 in restitution to Key Bank.

Both were previously found guilty of  one count of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

Delon Roberson used the social media site Facebook to recruit numerous local individuals to open accounts or turn over their bank ATM or debit cards and PINs. Delon Roberson and Shameka Roberson then caused the deposit of at least 138 fraudulent checks totaling more than $159,000 into the bank accounts of the recruited individuals. Approximately $76,399 was later withdrawn from the accounts through ATM transactions and debit card purchases between May 2015 and April 2016, according to court documents.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert W. Kern and Megan R. Miller following and investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Financial Fraud and Identity Theft Task Force.  This case specifically involved the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department, the Cleveland Heights Police Department and the Cleveland Division of Police.