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Mamadou Diallo, 44, also must pay $150,052 in restitution as part his plea deal with the government, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said.
For 6½ years, beginning in 2012, Diallo admitted, he and others stuck photos of themselves to passports bearing others’ names. They then used the bogus IDs to open bank accounts into which they deposited phony IRS refund checks.
They withdrew the funds from ATM and teller terminals at the victimized banks, Honig said.
Diallo took a deal rather than face trial, pleading guilty in June to bank fraud conspiracy and false use of a passport.
In addition to the prison term and restitution order, Diallo must remain under supervised release for three years, under the terms of the agreement.
Honig credited postal inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, special agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Department of Treasury-Office of Inspector General and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance with the investigation leading to Diallo's plea and sentence.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ari B. Fontecchio of Honig's Special Prosecutions Division in Newark handled the case for the government.
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