Jefferson County Man Convicted on Charges Related to Stolen Check Cashing Conspiracy

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A federal jury has convicted a Jefferson County man for his role in a conspiracy to obtain and deposit stolen checks, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona.

The jury returned a guilty verdict against Deizman Deandre Ellis, 24, of McCalla, Alabama, after three days of testimony before U.S. District Court Judge Madeline H. Haikala. Ellis was convicted of all five charges that he faced, including conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, possession of stolen mail, and fraudulent use of unauthorized access devices.

According to evidence presented at trial, Ellis was a lead participant in a large-scale stolen check cashing scheme between August 2023 and February 2024. During the scheme, business and personal checks were stolen from blue postal boxes in the Tuscaloosa, Alabama area, using stolen postal keys that were used to open the boxes. Ellis and other conspirators then deposited the stolen checks into co-conspirators' bank accounts and withdrew cash from those accounts.

In March, co-conspirator Eric Bernard Carter, Jr., 27, of Birmingham, Alabama, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case, with assistance from the Northport Police Department, Rainbow City Police Department, and Tuscaloosa Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brett A. Janich and William R. McComb are prosecuting the case.