Lorenzo Jones, a 38-year-old from Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced on Mar. 9 to serve 34 months in prison after being convicted of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, according to U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo.
The case highlights the coordinated efforts by law enforcement to address financial crimes that cross state lines and impact businesses in multiple communities.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul E. Bonanno and Sasha Mascarenhas said Jones worked with co-conspirators Ameer Clark, Quentavious Price, Montez White, and others between January and September 2022 to defraud financial institutions. The group traveled from Atlanta to the Western District of New York, stole genuine checks from businesses, created fraudulent checks using those details, and recruited individuals to cash them at local banks. The conspirators also provided clothing so the recruits would appear as construction workers or laborers before driving them to area banks.
In January 2022, Jones and others flew from Atlanta to Buffalo and attempted to cash fraudulent checks at KeyBank branches using accounts belonging to businesses in Elma and Tonawanda. In March of that year, Price and two others brought three individuals from Atlanta to Buffalo for similar attempts at M&T Bank, Bank on Buffalo, and Evans Bank branches using accounts of businesses in Tonawanda, Clarence, and Sanborn. By September 2022, Jones joined Clark, Price, and White in flying from Atlanta to Rochester with six individuals who tried cashing fraudulent checks at several banks using accounts of businesses based in Rochester and Alden.
The total loss amount—including both actual losses suffered by the victims as well as intended losses—was $64,979.67. All co-conspirators have previously been convicted.
The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations under Special-Agent-in-Charge Erin Keegan and the New York State Police under Major Amie P. Feroleto.
