Federal Indictment Charges Four Co-Conspirators For Scheme Involving Money Orders Stolen From Post Office

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. Attorney Dena J. King announced that a federal grand jury in Charlotte has indicted four co-conspirators for a scheme involving stolen United States Postal Service (USPS) money orders.

Jeff Krafels, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Postal Service, Office of the Inspector General (USPS-OIG) for the Mid-Atlantic Area Field Office (MAAFO), which oversees Charlotte, joins U.S. Attorney King in making today’s announcement.

Ravenna Lee Dorsey, Jr., 33, of Charlotte, Jaren Jamar Hopkins-Benton, 28, of Charlotte, Gregory Jeremy Singleton, 27, of Charlotte, and Shawn Joanta Brooks, 40, of Shelby, North Carolina, are each charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States by possessing and passing forged and altered USPS money orders, and possession of stolen and fraudulently altered USPS money orders.

According to allegations in the indictment, between November 2020 and February 2023, the co-conspirators acquired approximately 2,500 blank USPS money orders stolen from a Charlotte area post office. The indictment alleges that the co-conspirators purchased and used legitimate USPS money orders as “templates” to generate falsified and forged USPS money orders, which they deposited into multiple bank accounts and credit union accounts, and then withdrew the cash proceeds before the financial institutions detected the fraud. As alleged in the indictment, the co-conspirators redeemed approximately 800 of the stolen USPS money orders, causing losses totaling more than $750,000.

The charges in the indictment are allegations. The defendants are innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The conspiracy charge and each count of possession of stolen and fraudulently altered USPS money orders carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,00 fine per count. A federal district court judge will determine each defendant’s sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney King thanked the USPS-OIG for their investigation of the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Smith of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte is prosecuting the case.