4 Paterson residents guilty of breaking into postal boxes to steal checks
By Jonathan Greene
Published: April 28, 2021
Four people pleaded guilty to breaking into U.S. Postal Service collection boxes to steal checks, according to acting U.S. attorney Rachael A. Honig’s office.
Miguel Ortiz, 22, Victor Emilio Mejia Adames, 21, and Tiffany Diaz Fermin, 24, all of Paterson, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
Brando Mancebo, 21, formerly of Paterson, pleaded guilty to possession of stolen mail and conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
Ortiz and Adames pleaded guilty on Tuesday while Fermin and Mancebo pleaded guilty last week.
Ortiz, Adames, Fermin, and Mancebo conspired to break into mailboxes in Bergen, Hudson, and Morris counties to steal mail. They agreed to steal and deposit the checks into bank accounts that were controlled by them.
For example, on May 14, 2018, Ortiz deposited a $495 check at an ATM in Paterson into a bank account. On May 29, 2018, Ortiz deposited another check for $1,764.62 at another bank’s ATM in Paterson.
They would then withdraw funds from those accounts.
Ortiz, Adames, and Fermin face a maximum of five years in prison. Mancebo faces 35 years in prison.