A Fayetteville man who orchestrated a bank fraud scheme involving stolen checks taken from a Macon mail collection box and sold online has pleaded guilty in federal court.
Keyon Ponder, 28, pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud before U.S. District Judge C. Ashley Royal on March 24. He faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release, and a $1,000,000 fine. A sentencing date has not yet been determined.
According to court documents, investigators from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) began looking into reports of stolen mail and bank fraud in Macon on May 29, 2024, after multiple complaints about theft from the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Blue Box on Georgia Avenue near the Macon Post Office. Inspectors discovered a homemade “trap” in the box—a device made of cardboard designed to hold mail near the opening for easy retrieval…