Local man heads to prison for stealing checks from the mail

HOUSTON – A 44-year-old Houston resident has been sentenced for bank fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

Rhett Dean Stringer pleaded guilty Feb. 15, 2022.

U.S. District Judge George C. Hanks has now ordered Stringer to serve 105 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay restitution of $1,475 to Amegy Bank and $6,515.27 to Wells Fargo. At the hearing, the court heard evidence detailing Springer’s nine previous felony convictions. In handing down the sentence, Judge Hanks noted Stringer’s sentence is based on the actions of the person he has been, not the person he can be.

“Stringer, a serial mail thief and habitual criminal, possessed over 1,000 stolen checks,” said Hamdani. “One hundred and five months in a federal prison is wholly appropriate for the thousand times he decided to steal from the mail, violating an important and sacred trust, one as old as America - a trust in the U.S. mails.”

Law enforcement arrested Stringer on three different occasions. Each time, he was found in possession of checks that were stolen from the mail. Authorities also found counterfeit ID cards with the names and personal information of others, with Stringer’s photo, as well as credit cards in the names of others and various items of stolen mail. 

At the time of his last arrest, Springer was found in possession of over 1,000 checks totaling more than $2.6 million that had been stolen from the U.S. mail. The checks he cashed totaled nearly $8,000.

U.S. Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Hileman prosecuted the case.