NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – An Atlanta man who recruited individuals from local homeless shelters to cash counterfeit business checks was sentenced yesterday to 75 months in prison.

Yumahnn Quashawn Brown, 30, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank and mail fraud, and aggravated identity theft on February 23. According to the statement of facts, Brown traveled from Georgia to Virginia and other states several times between August 2015 and August 2016. The purpose of those trips was to steal mail, including business checks, from industrial parks and to cash counterfeit checks that were made using the stolen checks as templates. During these trips, Brown traveled to homeless shelters, where he solicited individuals to perform construction and other day jobs. Brown and the conspirators he was traveling with then provided the individuals with clothing, food, cigarettes, and alcohol while transporting them to the other areas, often more than an hour away from their respective shelters. During these trips, Brown sent information about the recruited individuals to conspirators traveling in other cars for use in the creation of counterfeit checks. Upon arrival in the targeted areas, Brown presented the homeless recruits with the counterfeit checks and directed them to cash those checks at nearby banks. In Virginia alone, Brown caused 30 homeless people to cash 70 counterfeit checks drawn on accounts belonging to 29 businesses. The total value of these counterfeit checks was nearly $160,000.

Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Robert B. Wemyss, Inspector in Charge of the Washington Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Mark S. Davis. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kaitlin C. Gratton prosecuted the case.