Dyonte Scott, 24, of Chicago, Illinois, was sentenced on December 6, 2024, to five years and five months in federal prison for attempting to defraud financial institutions in Bozeman, Montana, using stolen identities and U.S. Treasury checks, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana.
Scott pleaded guilty in July 2024 to bank fraud, possession of a stolen U.S. Treasury check, and aggravated identity theft. The case stems from his role in a scheme to deposit fraudulent Treasury checks and steal funds from various financial institutions across the country.
On January 26, 2024, Scott’s co-defendant, Lorenzo Botello, of Las Vegas, was arrested at a financial institution in Bozeman, where he was attempting to cash a fraudulent check using a stolen identity. During the investigation, law enforcement discovered that Scott had been actively directing Botello on how to execute the scheme. Scott provided specific instructions about what to say to the bank, which documents to present, and which financial institutions to target.
In one of the text messages between Scott and Botello, Scott wrote, “Lmk [how] everything goes[.] I’m right here with u the whole time.” The scheme involved an attempt to deposit a stolen U.S. Treasury check worth nearly $1 million.
When Scott was arrested, he was found carrying the stolen check, which he tore up in front of law enforcement officers. Additionally, while in jail, Scott attempted to obstruct the investigation by directing others to delete evidence.
The case is part of a larger scheme in which a network of individuals traveled across the United States to cash million-dollar U.S. Treasury checks at various banks. Botello was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison for his role in the fraud in October 2024.
The sentence emphasizes the serious consequences for individuals involved in financial fraud and identity theft, particularly those who engage in schemes that target financial institutions and taxpayers.
