Two men have been sentenced for their roles in a mail theft and counterfeit check operation that spanned nearly a decade and victimized churches, charities, small businesses, and public school systems across the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General.
Vernon A. McCreath, 39, of Jersey City, New Jersey, was sentenced to 192 months in federal prison, while Mikhail C. McCreath, 35, of Miami, Florida, received 140 months. Both had pleaded guilty to charges involving bank fraud, identity theft, mail theft, and check counterfeiting.
Scheme Details
From September 2015 through September 2025, the group stole mail, counterfeited checks and money orders, and used stolen identities to open bank accounts, the Labor Department’s inspector general said. The conspirators also produced forged identification documents and cashed counterfeit checks at financial institutions across the country, including in southern Alabama.
In April 2025, agents searched the Atlanta-area home of coconspirator Demetrius J. Manassa and found dozens of stolen and counterfeit checks and money orders, fake IDs, stolen mail, check-making equipment, and a loaded Glock pistol.
Fingerprints linked Vernon McCreath to stolen postal money orders found during the search. Investigators also matched Mikhail McCreath’s fingerprint to an image of a fraudulent deposit of about $1.3 million that was sent over Telegram.
Restitution and Supervised Release
Chief U.S. District Judge Jeffrey U. Beaverstock ordered the pair to pay $687,259.04 in restitution to victims. Each man will serve five years of supervised release after prison, with drug testing, financial monitoring, and limits on new lines of credit.
Five coconspirators have already been sentenced to between 60 and 180 months in prison, while two others will be sentenced at a later date. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Labor Department’s inspector general investigated the case.
