A federal judge sentenced a Chicago man Thursday to 18 months in prison after he admitted fraudulently cashing checks he got from a mail carrier.
Shawn Edwards, 34, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in the U.S. District Court in Hammond, U.S. Attorney Clifford Johnson said in a release.
He will have to repay nearly $190,000 to victims and will serve two years on supervised release.
Edwards allegedly paid mail carrier Latoya Tolbert to slip him checks for businesses between July 2020 and September 2021 from her route. He changed the payee and recruited people to cash the checks, then split the money with them.
Tolbert is set for sentencing in October.
mcolias@post-trib.com
