Atlanta Man stole checks from Macon mail boxes and sold them online. How did he do it?
An Atlanta man has admitted to orchestrating a bank fraud scheme by stealing dozens of checks from a Macon mailbox and selling them online, federal prosecutors said.
Keyon Ponder, of Fayetteville, pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud in front of Judge C. Ashley Royal on Monday in Macon federal court, according to prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia. He faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release. Ponder also faces a potential $1 million fine.
He also faced additional charges of possessing stolen mail, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and several more counts of bank fraud, but they have been dismissed as part of his guilty plea, court records show.
His sentencing date has not been scheduled yet, court records show.
“Keyon Ponder’s stolen check scheme defrauded citizens and businesses alike, a crime that will ultimately cost him years in prison,” said Acting U.S. Attorney C. Shanelle Booker.
How did he do it?
The United States Postal Inspection Service began investigating mail theft and bank fraud after receiving reports of mail stolen from a collection box near the Macon Post Office on College Street on May 29. While investigating the box, they found a homemade “trap” made out of cardboard, which prevented the mail from falling completely into the box and allowed Ponder to steal the mail by placing his hand in the opening of the collection box and removing it.
A United States Postal Service employee reported seeing a black Tesla near the mail collection box multiple times, and took a picture that included the license plate and a tinted tag cover on May 31. The picture was provided to an investigator with USPIS, federal prosecutors said.
The USPS employee also reported that the Tesla driver was not placing mail in the mail collection box but was staying nearby for long periods of time.
That same day, USPIS investigators saw the Tesla, with Ponder driving, drive up to the box, roll down the window and shove his hand “deep in the opening of the blue box,” federal prosecutors said. He then shoved an item in the box and pulled it back toward the opening. He left and traveled on I-75 toward Monroe County.
Ponder was then pulled over by Monroe County deputies for a traffic violation, but they saw a bag of mail in plain view on the floor of the front passenger seat. Deputies found 52 pieces of mail, which included 42 checks totaling more than $20,000. They were not addressed to Ponder, according to federal prosecutors.
He was also caught taking something out of his pants and stuffing it behind a screen in the booking area of the Monroe County Jail, which was revealed to be an envelope containing 17 more checks and a money order, totaling more than $75,000. They were not addressed to Ponder.
By pleading guilty, Ponder admitted to stealing 59 checks worth approximately $96,000, federal prosecutors said.
As the investigation continued, a search warrant was executed on two of Ponder’s cell phones, which found evidence of “a sophisticated fraud scheme in which Ponder and other individuals stole mail — specifically targeting checks — to operate a fraud ring utilizing originals and copies of checks that Ponder advertised and sold on the Telegram social media and messaging application,” federal prosecutors said.
Phone data showed that 136 people participated in the Telegram channel, prosecutors said. Further, Ponder’s cell phone contained more than 500 images of stolen checks listed for sale on his Telegram channel, which also included “detailed conversations ... of the transactions of the stolen checks.”
