Man Gets 6 Years In Prison For Fraudulently Depositing Checks

LOS ANGELES, CA — A man was sentenced to more than six years — 77 months — in federal prison after he admitted to stealing more than $500,000 in U.S. Treasury checks, fraudulently opening bank accounts and depositing the checks at banks in Pleasanton, Castro Valley, Los Banos and elsewhere with the help of others, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced.

Danele Ramon Morgan, 46, of Rancho Cucamonga in Southern California was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald and ordered to pay $337,000 in restitution. He pleaded not guilty in September to a count of conspiracy to bank fraud, the attorney's office said.

Morgan admitted to stealing checks, enlisting help from others, fraudulently opening bank accounts in the names of payees and withdrawing money through debit card purchases and cash withdrawals.

Prosecutors say he also obtained fraudulent identifications with his co-conspirators' faces and the payees' names.

Stolen checks were deposited from June 2016 to January 2017 at Bank of America branches in Pleasanton, Castro Valley, Paso Robles, Atascadero and Pasadena. A Los Banos Wells Fargo branch was also targeted.

The banks lost $337,000, prosecutors said.

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