Two individuals have been sentenced for their involvement in a large-scale fraud scheme that defrauded federally insured banks and credit unions of over $17 million, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama confirmed on Friday.
The convicted individuals, Brian Christopher Williams III, 25, and Kalaijha Tomeco Ranier Lewis, 29, orchestrated the theft and sale of high-value business checks from November 2021 to June 2023.
Williams received a 100-month sentence in federal prison, while Lewis was sentenced to 60 months. The pair were also ordered to pay $234,246.63 in restitution to their victims and forfeit $10,773.53 in cash that was seized from Williams.
The U.S. Attorney’s office stated that Williams enlisted Lewis, a postal worker at the Saint Joseph Street post office in Mobile, to steal hundreds of business checks. These stolen checks were then sold on a Telegram marketplace known as “Work Related,” where fraudsters counterfeited and cashed many of them.
In June 2023, investigators surveilled the post office and witnessed Lewis manipulating mail. Surveillance footage captured her concealing stolen checks in her pants. Lewis later admitted to stealing checks for Williams and received between $2,000 and $3,000 per batch.
Williams was arrested that same day at a gas station after he had arrived to purchase the stolen checks from Lewis. Authorities seized more than $10,000 in cash, which Williams admitted was earned from the fraud scheme. A search of his vehicle also uncovered a loaded Glock pistol with an extended magazine, ammunition, marijuana, and stolen checks worth over $417,000.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office confirmed these actions led to significant charges and sentences for both Williams and Lewis.