A federal grand jury returned a four-count indictment charging Michael Baker, 23, of Covington, Georgia; Clinton Gaynor, 27, and Asia Loveless, 20, both of Cleveland, for defrauding local banks by presenting altered U.S. Postal money orders into the bank accounts of recruited people and later withdrawing funds under false pretenses, said Carole S. Rendon, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
The indictment alleges that Baker, Gaynor and Loveless recruited local people to deposit 119 altered U.S. Postal money orders into their bank accounts and later made cash withdrawals totaling over $59,000 from various ATMs.
Assistant United States Attorneys Robert W. Kern and Karrie D. Howard are prosecuting this case, following an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
If convicted, the court will determine the defendants’ sentence after a review of factors unique to this case, including the defendants’ prior criminal record, if any, the defendants’ role in the offense, and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum. In most cases, it will be less than the maximum.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
