MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – Two defendants were sentenced to 69 months and 40 months in prison, respectively, for conspiring to commit bank fraud involving stolen mail, aggravated identity theft, and illegal possession of firearms, U.S. Attorney Sean P. Costello of the Southern District of Alabama announced.
Two defendants were sentenced to 69 months and 40 months in prison, respectively, for conspiring to commit bank fraud involving stolen mail, aggravated identity theft, and illegal possession of firearms.
According to court documents, EW Nelson, 39, of Coden, and Thomas William Peters III, 45, of Irvington, participated in a conspiracy to commit bank fraud involving items stolen from the U.S. mail between March 2024 and May 2024. Nelson and Peters each pleaded guilty and admitted that they stole U.S. mail to obtain checks, credit cards, debit cards, money orders and other personal identifying information of victims, which they used to generate counterfeit and forged financial instruments and commit fraudulent transactions to obtain illicit profits.
In April 2024, Peters and Nelson worked together to conduct several fraudulent transactions at banks in Tillman’s Corner and Theodore using stolen identifying information of mail-theft victims. Bank surveillance video captured Peters making the unauthorized transactions…