MACON, Ga. (WTXL)- Five Valdosta men entered guilty pleas for conspiring to steal and possess stolen mail and items, including checks, for several months in 2016, a federal prosecutor said.
The five are Kedrick Antwan Williams, 31, Zerrick Devon Tompkins, 31, Jerry Lewis Rawls Jr., 44, Willie James Smith, 64, and Gregory Willie Harris, 46. They pleaded guilty on October 12.
The men removed the checks, altered payees and amounts of the checks, and cashed or deposited the checks and kept the money, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia. They did so from July 24 to Dec. 8, 2016.
The defendants admitted to the theft of betwen $40,000 and $95,000 worth of checks written on the accounts of a number of south Georgia people and businesses.
The five agreed to pay restitution of more than $14,000 to five banks and one business, based on checks that were negotiated.
U.S. Attorney G. F. Peterman said that numerous people and businesses were victims of the organized check cashing ring.
"It is a shame that with all the ingenuity and effort these criminals invested in this illegal scheme, they did not choose to earn an honest dollar instead, which they were clearly smart and resourceful enough to have done," the prosecutor said.
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