Rochester man pleads guilty to his role in financial fraud scheme involving stolen checks

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Sheldon Marquis Adams, 26, of Rochester, NY, pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Katelyn M. Hartford, who is handling the case, stated that between March and September 29, 2023, Adams conspired with others to obtain hundreds of checks that had been stolen from U.S. Postal Service mailboxes in the Rochester, NY, area. Adams and his co-conspirators would then forge or alter the checks with the intent to obtain money from the associated bank accounts. Adams used social media to recruit individuals to cash or deposit the checks into their own accounts and withdraw the money before the issuing bank detected the fraud. If the individuals successfully cashed the checks, they would give the money to the members of the conspiracy in return for a small payment. On September 29, 2023, in furtherance of the conspiracy, Adams was found in possession of 15 pages of blank check stock paper and approximately 335 checks that had been stolen between April and June 2023 from U.S. Postal Service blue collection boxes. Some of the checks had been altered by washing them with acetone.

The scheme involved approximately 227 individual victims and 36 business victims, in addition to the victim financial institutions, and stolen and altered checks totaling approximately $516,912.17.

The plea is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Postal Inspector-in-Charge Ketty Larco-Ward, the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Kevin Sucher, and the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief David Smith. 

Sentencing is scheduled for March 25, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. before Judge Wolford.

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