Former Postal Worker and Two Philadelphia Men Admit to Conspiring to Commit Bank Fraud; Mount Laurel Man and Woman Sentenced to Prison for Their Roles in Same Conspiracy

CAMDEN, N.J. - U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer announced that: (i) a former U.S. Postal Service employee admitted to stealing checks from the U.S. mail and selling them to others; (ii) a Philadelphia man admitted to advertising and reselling the stolen checks; (iii) another Philadelphia man admitted to working with others to fraudulently negotiate one of the stolen checks; and (iv) a Mount Laurel man and woman were each sentenced to 57 months' imprisonment for their roles in negotiating checks stolen as part of the same conspiracy.

Juawan Reed, 30, of Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania, a former postal worker, pleaded guilty on July 15, 2026 before District Judge Edward S. Kiel to an Information charging him with conspiring to commit bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, theft of public money, theft of U.S. mail, money laundering, and filing a false income tax return. Christopher Hayman, 30, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty on July 14, 2026 before Judge Kiel to an Information charging him with conspiring to commit bank fraud. Tyree Holmes, 34, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty on June 22, 2026 before Judge Kiel to an Information charging him with conspiring to commit bank fraud. Kharon Parson-Wright, 28, of Marlton, New Jersey, was sentenced by Judge Kiel on June 22, 2026, to 57 months' imprisonment, after previously pleading guilty to an Information charging him with conspiring to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. Yasmene Johnson, 29, of Marlton, New Jersey, was sentenced by Judge Kiel on May 12, 2026, to 57 months' imprisonment, after previously pleading guilty to an Information charging her with conspiring to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Reed stole checks from the U.S. mail while he worked at the U.S. Postal Service Camden Carrier Annex. Reed sold or otherwise provided some of the stolen checks to Holmes and Dante Ford, who advertised some of the stolen checks on a social media platform and resold them to others. Reed provided other stolen checks directly to Holmes and others for them to negotiate fraudulently.

For example, in December 2022, Reed stole a $686,541.88 United States Treasury check payable to a business in Pennsauken, New Jersey. Reed provided this stolen check to Holmes. Co-conspirator Hayman falsely purported to be the CEO of the Pennsauken business in order to open a business bank account in the name of the business. The conspirators then deposited the stolen check, and Hayman withdrew a substantial portion of the funds before the bank detected the fraud and closed the account.

In addition to stealing checks from the mail, Reed admitted that he created and used a stolen identity to open financial accounts, which Reed then used to launder some of the fraud proceeds. Reed also admitted that he failed to report on his tax returns hundreds of thousands of dollars that he earned from his crimes. Reed admitted that the bank fraud conspiracy caused an actual loss of more than $2.4 million and an intended loss of more than $20 million.

Apart from the checks that Reed stole through his work as a postal worker, Ford, Parson-Wright and others also stole checks from blue U.S. mail collection boxes. Ford and other members of that conspiracy then created counterfeit versions of the stolen checks or altered the stolen checks by increasing the value of the checks and changing the name of the payee either to a member of the conspiracy or somebody else recruited by the conspiracy. Parson-Wright and Johnson admitted that they negotiated and caused to be negotiated the counterfeit or altered checks and then attempted to the withdraw the funds before the bank learned that the checks were illegitimate. This aspect of the conspiracy involved the negotiation of checks at banks across southern New Jersey and elsewhere, with checks written for tens of thousands of dollars.

As a separate part of their conspiracy, Parson-Wright connected Johnson with a bank employee who created fraudulent debit cards in the name of victims who held accounts at the bank. Parson-Wright and Johnson used one of the fraudulently-issued debit cards to make purchases and ATM withdrawals in New Jersey. Parson-Wright and Johnson admitted that their roles in the bank fraud conspiracy resulted in actual losses exceeding $400,000 and intended losses exceeding $1,500,000.

Ford and three other defendants previously were sentenced in 2025 after pleading guilty to participating in a bank fraud conspiracy involving some of the stolen checks described above. Ford was sentenced to 27 months' imprisonment, co-conspirator Donovan Bunch was sentenced to 33 months' imprisonment, co-conspirator Tracy Felder-Carter was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment, and co-conspirator Quamell Keyes-Griffin was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment.

For Reed, Holmes, and Hayman, the count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000,000, or twice the gross loss to the victim or gain to the defendant, whichever is greatest. For Reed, the count of aggravated identity theft carries a statutory mandatory penalty of two years in prison, which must run consecutively to any other term of imprisonment, the count of theft of public money carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, the count of theft of U.S. mail carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison, the count of money laundering carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and the count of filing a false income tax return carries a maximum penalty of 3 years in prison.

Sentencing for Reed is scheduled for November 17, 2026, sentencing for Hayman is scheduled for November 16, 2026, and sentencing for Holmes is scheduled for October 27, 2026.

U.S. Attorney Frazer credited postal inspectors and agents of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Philadelphia Division, under the direction of Inspector in Charge Christopher A. Nielsen, the U.S. Postal Service - Office of Inspector General, Northeast Area Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Matthew Modafferi, the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jenifer L. Piovesan, and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), Northeast Field Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael Carpenter, with the investigations leading to these pleas and sentences. He also thanked the Mount Laurel Police Department, under the direction of Chief Timothy Hudnall, for its valuable assistance in the investigation.

On April 7, 2026, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division ("Fraud Division"). The Fraud Division is investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department's work to combat fraud supports President Trump's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey Bender of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Camden and Sara Aliabadi of the Special Prosecutions Division.

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Defense counsel:

Reed: Todd Fiore, Esq., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Holmes: Troy Archie, Esq., Cinnaminson, New Jersey.

Parson-Wright: Justin Capek, Esq., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Johnson: Stanley King, Esq., Voorhees, New Jersey.

Hayman: Edward Borden, Jr., Esq., Cherry Hill, New Jersey.