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Conspirator Who Used NJ High School Students To Cash Stolen COVID Stimulus Checks Gets 4 Years

One of a nest of criminals who paid New Jersey high school students to cash COVID stimulus checks stolen from the mail was sentenced to four years in federal prison.

The conspirators forged the signatures of the account holders and made the checks payable to high school students and others who’d given them access to their accounts in exchange for money, federal authorities said.

The conspirators forged the signatures of the account holders and made the checks payable to high school students and others who’d given them access to their accounts in exchange for money, federal authorities said.

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Jerry DeMarco

Because there's no parole in the federal prison system, Jeffrey Bennett, 27, of Irvington, must serve just about all of the plea-bargained sentence rubber-stamped by a U.S. District Court judge in Newark via videoconference on Monday, Feb. 14.

Bennett -- a reputed associate of a group called "The Members" -- recruited U.S. Postal Service employees to steal checks, checkbooks, debit cards, and credit cards from the mail in exchange for cash, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.

They then forged the signatures of the account holders and made the checks payable to high school students and others who’d given them access to their accounts in exchange for money, Sellinger said.

Bennett and two other men deposited the forged checks online and at various ATMs throughout New Jersey, then withdrew money before the banks noticed, the U.S. attorney said.

Bennett also used the stolen credit cards to buy gift cards or Apple products, which he then resold to generate additional proceeds from the scheme, he said.

"Bennett and his conspirators obtained and attempted to obtain approximately $366,000 from victim financial institutions," Sellinger said.

The proceeds were split among the conspirators and a Postal Service worker, he said.

Rather than face trial, Bennett took a deal from the government, pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton sentenced Bennett to three years of supervised release and ordered restitution of $61,438.

The statuses of the cases against the others couldn't immediately be determined.

Sellinger credited postal inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, special agents with the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General special agents with IRS – Criminal Investigation and special agents with the Office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) with the investigation leading to the arrests.

He also thanked police from Summit, Newark, South Orange, Little Falls, New Providence and Piscataway.

Securing Bennett's plea and sentence were Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan Fayer and Elaine K. Lou of Carpenito’s Criminal Division in Newark.

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