Leah B. Foley United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts | Department of Justice
Two men have been sentenced in federal court in Boston for their involvement in a scheme to steal checks from the mail and commit bank fraud.
Imanol Rios-Franco, 26, of Canton, received a sentence of 35 months in federal prison and one year of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $12,528 in restitution. Rios-Franco pleaded guilty in November 2025 to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to steal and possess stolen mail.
Brandon Baez, 23, of North Attleboro, was sentenced to two years in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release. Baez must pay $10,285 in restitution. He also pleaded guilty in November 2025 to the same charges as Rios-Franco.
Between June 2023 and February 2024, the two men and their co-conspirators stole mail from USPS collection boxes with the goal of taking checks. They used chemicals to remove ink from hand-written checks and then re-issued them to accounts they controlled. After depositing the altered checks, they withdrew funds from ATMs or bought money orders using the stolen money. Investigators found evidence on cellphones showing collaboration among those involved.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley stated: "Valuable assistance was provided by the Boston and Wellesley Police Departments." Thomas A. Greco, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) Boston Field Division; Nicholas Bucciarelli, Acting Inspector in Charge for the Boston Office of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lucy Sun and Philip C. Cheng were also involved with prosecuting the case.
The case is part of an initiative led by the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF), which aims to disrupt criminal cartels and transnational organizations operating within and outside the United States through coordinated law enforcement efforts involving multiple agencies.
