New Gloucester Man Pleads Guilty to Presenting Counterfeit Treasury Checks

PORTLAND, Maine: A New Gloucester man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Portland to passing counterfeit U.S. Treasury checks and to a wire fraud scheme.

According to court records, Keith Mitchell, 38, deposited eight counterfeit U.S. Treasury checks totaling $40,379 into his bank account in May and June of 2024. The checks contained the serial numbers and amounts of actual U.S. Treasury checks that had been issued to third parties, but were counterfeited to be made payable to Mitchell. In May of 2021, Mitchell also received $20,832 in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds based on a false and fraudulent PPP loan application. The application falsely claimed that Mitchell owned a sole proprietorship business that had earned a gross revenue of $100,000 in 2020. Mitchell also submitted a falsified tax return in support of the application.

Mitchell faces a maximum term of imprisonment of up to 20 years and a maximum fine of $250,000. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigative report by the U.S. Probation Office. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation investigated the case.

Paycheck Protection Program: The PPP was a COVID-19 pandemic relief program administered by the SBA that provided forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses. The PPP permitted participating third-party lenders to approve and disburse SBA-backed PPP loans to cover payroll, fixed debts, utilities, rent/mortgage, accounts payable and other bills incurred by qualifying businesses during, and resulting from, the COVID-19 pandemic. PPP loans were fully guaranteed by the SBA.

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