ALBANY, NEW YORK – Alphonso L. Howard, Jr., age 28, of
Decatur, Georgia, pled guilty today to creating counterfeit checks and then
cashing them at banks in Saratoga and Warren Counties.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C.
Jaquith; James N. Hendricks, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office
of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); and New York State Police Acting
Superintendent Keith M. Corlett.
Howard pled guilty to one count of conspiring to commit bank
fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.
Howard admitted that he and co-conspirators defrauded
financial institutions by intercepting and stealing checks sent through the
U.S. Mail; using information from these legitimate checks to create counterfeit
checks drawn on the same financial accounts as the stolen, legitimate checks;
and then cashing and attempting to cash the counterfeit checks at financial
institutions in Saratoga and Warren Counties.
Howard, who has been in custody since September 26, 2018,
will be sentenced on August 12, 2019 by Senior United States District Judge
Gary L. Sharpe. He faces at least 2
years and up to 30 years in prison, a maximum $1 million fine, and up to 5
years of post-release supervision. A
defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the
defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other
factors. Howard has also agreed to
forfeit $16,660 in cash he possessed at the time of his arrest, and to entry of
a money judgment in the amount of $164,077.70.
This case is being investigated by the FBI and the New York
State Police-Troop G, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney
Michael Barnett. Other agencies have
assisted in the investigation and prosecution, including the District
Attorney’s Offices in Saratoga and Warren Counties, the Glens Falls Police
Department, the Burlington Police Department (Vt.), Vermont State Police, and
the Stowe Police Department (Vt.).
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