HOUSTON - Jason Wade Crawford, 36, has been ordered to federal prison for his convictions of bank fraud, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson. He pleaded guilty May 6, 2014.
Today, U.S. District David Hittner, who accepted the plea, handed Crawford a sentence of 15 months for the bank fraud and access device fraud charges to be served concurrently. For the aggravated identity theft, he was further ordered to serve a mandatory two years which must be served consecutively for a total sentence of 39 months in federal prison. Crawford will also be required to serve a term of three years of supervised release following completion of the prison term. He was further ordered to pay a $23,682.36 in restitution to the victims.
Beginning in at least May 2012, Crawford broke into several mail boxes throughout the Houston area to steal mail, much of which included checks, credit cards, gift cards and other mail with personal identifiers. He then created false identifications and used them to deposit or cash the checks.
Bank surveillance photos showed Crawford negotiating stolen checks at Woodforest National Bank and Amegy Bank. Local area law enforcement officers were also able to seize bags full of stolen mail from Crawford’s car.
At the time of his guilty plea, he admitted he participated in the mail theft ring and had used the personal identification information of another person to cash stolen checks.
Crawford will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Searle is prosecuting.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
