SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Latomba Bishop, 33 of Sacramento, was sentenced today to five years and 10 months in prison for a scheme to obtain mail through fraudulent vacation holds and mail forwarding requests and steal the identities of the mail theft victims, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. In addition, U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley ordered Bishop to pay $38,371 in restitution to the victims.
On Nov. 30, 2017, Bishop pleaded guilty to mail fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with the scheme.
According to court documents, Bishop and her co-defendants Joshua Yadon, 33, and Norman Thompson, 37, both of Sacramento, used stolen personal identifying information to fraudulently obtain credit cards, checks, and merchandise. To avoid detection, the conspirators would often request that the items be mailed to the victims’ real addresses but then would file false vacation holds and change of address forms with the United States Postal Service in order to divert the items into the conspirators’ possession.
San Francisco Division Inspector in Charge Rafael Nunez of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service stated, “Postal Inspectors worked closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our partners in law enforcement to arrest and prosecute those individuals responsible for the thefts of mail and financial crimes committed against the public."
Thompson pleaded guilty to the conspiracy and on October 5, 2017, was sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison. Yadon also pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 12, 2018. Yadon faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
This case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service with assistance from the Davis Police Department, Sacramento County Probation, and the Woodland Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy J. Kelley is prosecuting the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
