Five residents of Fresno, California have pleaded guilty to their roles in a check fraud scheme involving stolen checks worth more than $1 million, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California.
Zion Brewer, 40, worked for the U.S. Postal Service and stole checks from the mail between 2022 and 2023, then distributed them to the other participants. The group recruited account holders or used their own accounts to deposit the stolen checks and withdraw cash before banks detected and halted the fraudulent transactions.
The defendants coordinated their activities primarily through Facebook and Facebook Messenger. The scheme targeted approximately $1 million from banks, though actual losses were several hundred thousand dollars after most payments were intercepted.
Guilty Pleas and Sentencing
The guilty pleas were entered as follows:
- Davonntae Barfield, 31; Zion Brewer, 40; and Nyric Hinton, 28 pleaded guilty on August 17, 2026
- Harry Cooper Neal, 30 pleaded guilty on August 31, 2026
- Zorian Temple, 25 pleaded guilty on September 21, 2026
Sentencing dates have been scheduled with U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston: Neal on November 30, 2026; Barfield, Brewer, and Hinton on December 7, 2026; and Temple on January 11, 2027.
Each defendant faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000,000.
