U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that DARREN BRANDON WILLIAMS, age 29, of Oakland, California, was sentenced to 6 months of incarceration followed by 6 months of home confinement by United States District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana Sarah S. Vance after he previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to alter U.S. Postal money orders.
According to the court records, WILLIAMS conspired with others in the New Orleans area to buy U.S. Postal money orders in small amounts (typically $1.00) and then the money orders were sent out of state where they were altered to much higher amounts. WILLIAMS, working with other conspirators, then enlisted individuals to deposit the altered U.S. Postal money orders into local bank accounts. Once the money orders cleared, the funds were withdrawn and split by WILLIAMS and the conspirators.
In addition to 12 months, WILLIAMS was sentenced to 3 years of supervised release, ordered to pay $25,000 in restitution to two victim banks and ordered to pay a fine of $2,000.
U. S. Attorney Evans praised the investigative work of the United States Postal Inspector Office for its handling of the matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward J. Rivera was in charge of the prosecution.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
