Mount Vernon 19-Year-Old Stole $34,000 By Altering Checks: DA

MOUNT VERNON, NY — Jelani Knox of Mount Vernon was sentenced Thursday to 2-4 years in state prison for identity theft in a scheme that included forging checks for deposit at Mount Vernon and Pelham bank branches.

Knox, 19, pleaded guilty March 5 to five counts of Identity Theft in the First Degree, a class D felony, one for each victim, Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr. announced. He appeared before Supreme Court Justice Barry E. Warhit.

Prosecutors alleged that on five different days last summer, Knox altered checks from five unrelated Mount Vernon victims’ accounts and deposited them in bank ATMs in Mount Vernon and Pelham.

His method was to alter the amount on the checks and who they were made out to, and then deposit them. The checks totaled more than $34,000.

The transactions were recorded on video and showed Knox making the deposits at the ATMs.

During a separate incident in July, Mount Vernon police arrested Knox. He was carrying a forged check and two debits cards in the names of the two accounts into which he was making deposits. Later, these facts helped corroborate the identity thefts.

United States Postal Inspection Service assisted in the case. Investigations Division Assistant District Attorney Adrian Murphy of the Identity Theft Unit prosecuted the case.