BECKLEY, W.Va. – An Atlanta man was sentenced today to a year in federal prison and ordered to pay almost $17,000 in restitution for his role in a mail theft and counterfeit check cashing conspiracy, announced United States Attorney Carol Casto. DeAndre Smith, 23, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit postal theft and making and uttering counterfeit securities.
Smith admitted that on two occasions in November 2015, he traveled, along with a group of other conspirators, from Atlanta to Beckley. Once in Beckley, Smith and the group targeted businesses and stole checks out of mailboxes. Smith and his co-conspirators then used the information from the stolen checks to make counterfeit checks, which they then cashed at local banks.
The United States Postal Inspection Service and the Beckley Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Eric P. Bacaj is in charge of the prosecution. United States District Judge Irene C. Berger imposed the sentence.
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