St. Louis-area man sentenced in $1.2M stolen mail check scheme

ST. LOUIS - A St. Louis-area man has been sentenced to federal prison for leading a $1.2 million fraud scheme that involved stolen checks from mail.

A federal judge has sentenced Malik Jones, 28, of Berkeley, Missouri, to three years and six months behind bars. He previously pleaded guilty to federal charges of bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Prosecutors say Jones was involved in "every step" of a scheme to steal checks from mail and commit fraud with those checks from March 2022 to October 2023, according to a sentencing memo.

In March 2022, Jones bought a stolen “arrow key,” which allows access to U.S. Postal Service mail collection boxes, from mail carrier Cambria M. Hopkins, who pleaded guilty to similar charges last month.

With the key, Jones then recruited others to steal mail from collection boxes across the St. Louis area. After that, he altered and created counterfeit versions of the checks, and arranged for deposits into various accounts before withdrawing funds.

Investigators say Jones attempted to deposit forged and bogus checks with a face value of $1.2 million, though many fraudulent checks were flagged and rejected by banks.

“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is dedicated to defending the nation’s mail system from criminal activity, preserving the integrity of the U.S. Mail, and protecting United States Postal Service employees. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service values our law enforcement partners for supporting our mission to protect the integrity of the U.S. Mail,” said Ruth M. Mendonça, Inspector in Charge of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Jones was also ordered to repay $21,635 to victims.