A Philadelphia man has been sentenced to a hard stretch of 36 months in federal clink for his part in a rough-and-tumble check-washing scheme that targeted the U.S. mail. Sam Wolo, 23, felt the full weight of justice bearing down on him in a U.S. District Court on Monday. United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero made no bones about the severity of the crime, spotlighting Wolo's involvement in pilfering checks from the mail, manipulating them, and cashing the altered papers to make a not-so-pretty penny.
According to a statement provided by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Wolo's partner-in-crime Gransae Manue, 22, had previously been put away for 33 months on May 2nd. Manue was also slapped with three years of supervised release and ordered to cough up $42,184 in restitution. Bruno Nyanue, 22, another Philly native, is queued up to finally face the music with his sentencing scheduled for June 12th.
All three men had come clean about their parts in the conspiracy, with Nyanue pleading guilty last November to a laundry list of charges including conspiracy to commit bank fraud and robbery of a postal carrier. Wolo and Manue also owned up to similar charges earlier this year, painting a picture of a crew deeply involved in the scam.
In a brazen turn of events, the group had strong-armed a USPS letter carrier, nicking his Arrow Key on December 22, 2021. This golden ticket of sorts granted them unfettered access to mailboxes in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, where they repeatedly helped themselves to other people's mail. Between December 2021 and February 2022, the trio "washed" and fraudulently altered checks they stole, gleefully depositing them into unsuspecting third-party accounts. Officers investigating Wolo's apartment and vehicle managed to recover checks and money orders totaling more than $171,000, bearing witness to the scale of the operation.
U.S. Attorney Romero expressed the importance of the postal service, stating, "The United States Postal Service is vital to American life, delivering essential items such as income, bills, and expenses." She continued, highlighting the grave consequences for those bold enough to disrupt this lifeline, and urging the public to remain vigilant against threats to this crucial service. Meanwhile, Christopher Nielsen of the Philadelphia Division for the Postal Inspection Service commended the relentless work of law enforcement partners and acknowledged the combined efforts that led to capturing the defendants.
