A 27-year-old Moreno Valley man, who joined two others in stealing and fraudulently cashing federal tax refund checks totaling just over $20,000, was sentenced Tuesday to three years in federal prison.
Sharieff A. Sylvester pleaded guilty in January to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft for the scheme he perpetrated in 2016 with 26-year-old Joseph R. Hooks of Bloomington and 29-year-old Mistie Smith of Moreno Valley.
In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips ordered Sylvester to pay $20,416 in victim restitution.
The defendants were apprehended in the Midwest and prosecuted in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Missouri.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the trio stole income tax refund checks from people’s mailboxes in Colorado, Kansas and Missouri. Sylvester cashed six stolen checks, using fake drivers’ licenses to pose as the individuals whose money he took, prosecutors said.
Sylvester completed each fraudulent transaction using Academy Bank branches in St. Joseph, Missouri, and Parker, Colorado. According to prosecutors, the defendant opened a new bank account and deposited a stolen check in the amount of $3,838 at the Parker branch, and almost immediately afterward, he withdrew $3,808.
Some of the fraudulent activity was captured on security surveillance video cameras at the branches, enabling federal investigators to track down Sylvester, Hooks and Smith in April 2016.
At the time of his arrest in Denver, Sylvester was in possession of 19 counterfeit drivers’ licenses, investigators said.
Hooks and Smith are slated to be sentenced this summer.