The court also ordered Anderson and Stewart to pay restitution to financial institutions in the total amount of almost $80,000.
Anderson had pleaded guilty on May 13, 2019, and Stewart had pleaded guilty on April 15, 2019. On May 6, 2019, a third conspirator, Allen Griffin (23, Coral Springs), was sentenced to four years and nine months imprisonment in connection with this scheme.
According to court documents, during the summer of 2018, Anderson, Stewart, and Griffin created counterfeit checks and obtained access to individual bank accounts into which they deposited the counterfeit checks. The conspirators then withdrew the funds from the accounts before the fraud was detected. Anderson, Stewart, and Griffin deposited counterfeit checks totaling more than $370,000 in Orlando-area banks.
On Aug. 3, 2018, Anderson and Griffin were arrested at a hotel in Orlando. They had blank check stock paper, a printer, and a laptop that they had used to create counterfeit checks, computerized images of signatures used on the counterfeit checks, and ATM cards that had been used in the scheme. All three individuals were also captured on bank surveillance video depositing counterfeit checks and making withdrawals from accounts where the counterfeit checks had recently been deposited.
This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service, with assistance from the Orange County Sherriffs Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dana E. Hill.
-- Middle District of Florida
Source: U.S. Secret Service