SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Channin Renee Dickens, 30, of Sacramento, pleaded guilty today to possessing stolen mail, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, between Sept. 15, 2016, and Feb. 20, 2017, Dickens possessed mail that had been stolen from an authorized U.S. Mail receptacle. Dickens, along with Ashley Nicole Leyba, 27, of Sacramento, and others, carried out a scheme to defraud banks by using identity information and financial documents obtained from stolen U.S. Mail to apply for lines of credit and open accounts in the names of others. Dickens would use the cards to purchase merchandise and services.
On Feb. 13, 2017, Leyba was arrested, and in April 7, 2017, pleaded guilty to bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and possession of stolen mail. In Leyba’s plea agreement, she admits that while in custody, she instructed Dickens to destroy stolen identification and financial information that she had in her residence. However, some of the stolen mail was recovered in Dickens’ car before she could destroy it.
This case is the product of an investigation of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, with assistance from the California Highway Patrol, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, the Sacramento County Probation Office, and the Citrus Heights Police Department.
Dickens is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. on Sept. 15, 2017. Dickens faces up to five years in prison. Leyba is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Burrell on July 28, 2017. Leyba faces up to 30 years in prison for bank fraud, a mandatory sentence of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft, and five years in prison for possession of stolen U.S. Mail.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
