Oklahoma City Man Sentenced to Serve 24 Months in Federal Prison for Aggravated Identity Theft

Four Defendants Sentenced Collectively to Serve 11 Years in Federal Prison and Ordered to Pay more than $135,000 in Restitution

for Metro Postal Theft, Forged Security, and Identity Theft Offenses

OKLAHOMA CITY – Last Friday, BRANDON NASH, 43, of Oklahoma City, was sentenced to serve 24 months in federal prison and pay $20,646.62 in restitution for aggravated identity theft, announced U. S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.

On June 21, 2022, a federal grand jury returned a 21-count Indictment against Nash and three co-defendants, Dexter Smith, Jr., 36, Trista Ferguson, 39, and Gloria Taylor, 32, for their roles in a conspiracy to steal money from banks and individuals by cashing checks, money orders, and other financial documents stolen from metro United States Postal Service (USPS) collection boxes. The Indictment further alleges the group altered stolen checks, manufactured counterfeit checks using information found on stolen checks, and manufactured fraudulent identification documents to cash stolen and fraudulent checks.

On July 28, 2022, Nash pleaded guilty to Count 21 of the Indictment, aggravated identity theft. As part of his plea, Nash admitted to knowingly using a means of identification for another person.

At the sentencing hearing on November 3, 2023, U. S. District Judge Jodi D. Dishman sentenced Nash to serve 24 months in prison.

Smith, Jr., Ferguson, and Taylor were sentenced in October to serve 108 months collectively in federal prison.  Those three defendants pleaded guilty to Count 1 of the Indictment, charging conspiracy to make, utter, and possess forged securities. Smith, Jr. was sentenced to serve 30 months, Ferguson was sentenced to serve 60 months, and Taylor was sentenced to serve 18 months.

The four defendants were ordered to pay $135,616.96 joint and several in restitution.

This case is the result of an investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U. S. Attorney Charles Brown prosecuted the case.

Reference is made to public filings for additional information.