Georgia man gets prison time for $214K check fraud scheme in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — A Georgia man has been sentenced to prison time for his role in a scheme to steal from banks by cashing counterfeit checks.

Toddorius Goodwin, 34, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to three years of jail time and five years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay over $214,000 in restitution to the banks and credit unions he stole from, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Georgia man pleads guilty to defrauding several Utah banks

In August of this year, Goodwin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity fraud.

From April 2022 to October 2022, Goodwin and others traveled from Georgia to Utah to engage in what the U.S. Attorney's Office called "a sophisticated check fraud scheme."

"They recruited impoverished individuals locally to take on the risk – as the runners entering the banks to physically cash the forged checks and potentially face arrest. The scheme was a proactive, well-planned, and team-orchestrated crime," the Attorney's Office said in a press release.

The Attorney's Office also said the involved parties stole payroll checks from people's mailboxes to the recruited individual's name and cashed the forged checks at various banks in exchange for a cut of the profit.

"Exploiting the vulnerable to commit check fraud is not only a crime against the law but a grave injustice against humanity," Homeland Security Investigations Las Vegas Special Agent in Charge Chris Miller said.

Miller also that the sentence serves as a reminder that justice will find those responsible for the crime.