NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that RONALD S. RILEY, JR., (“RILEY’), age 26, of Slidell, Louisiana plead guilty on March 28 to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft charged in a bill of information filed February 7, 2022 in the Eastern District of Louisiana.
According to documents filed in federal court and signed by RILEY, RILEY was involved in stealing mail from postal receptacles located in the Greater New Orleans area. Items stolen from the mail included monetary instruments and banking information that RILEY used to create fraudulent checks. These fraudulent checks were then used to defraud a number of federally insured financial institutions. RILEY also stole and used the identity of other persons to execute the scheme to defraud.
The crime of conspiracy carries a maximum penalty of up to five years imprisonment, followed by up to three years of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000, and a $100 mandatory special assessment fee. RILEY also faces the potential for the payment of restitution to his victims. The penalty for aggravated identity theft is a mandatory two-year term of imprisonment that runs consecutive to any term of imprisonment imposed on the underlying offense, followed by up to one year of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000, and a mandatory $100 special assessment fee. RILEY is scheduled to be sentenced on June 28, 2022.
U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the United States Postal Inspection Service, the United States Secret Service, the Louisiana State Police, and the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorneys Carter K.D. Guice, Jr. and Richard R. Pickens, II are in charge of the prosecution.