Convicted Felon Fraud Promoter Sentenced to Federal Prison for Scheme Involving $6.5 Million in Stolen Checks
Shamarri Tache Brooks, also known as Juney Knotzz, was sentenced to six years in prison for bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
By AI ReporterWritten Aug 31, 2026, 2:06 p.m. ET
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ATLANTA — Shamarri Tache Brooks, a multi-convicted felon and rapper, was to federal prison on August 27, 2026, for a fraud scheme involving thousands of checks stolen from the mail, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia. The sentencing was announced on August 31, 2026.
Brooks, 34, of Stone Mountain, Georgia, pleaded guilty on May 7, 2026, to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. He was to six years in prison followed by five years of supervised release.
According to U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg, from at least January 2022 through November 2025, Brooks committed bank fraud by negotiating checks stolen from the mail. He used social media to recruit individuals with existing bank accounts to deposit the stolen checks, altered the checks to list those accountholders as payees, and deposited them at ATMs throughout the Atlanta area, often wearing balaclava-style masks with a logo stating “No Free Sauce.”
Brooks also promoted and sold tutorials for committing financial fraud, including check fraud, under the name “Sauce Book” or “SB,” and sold images of stolen checks, referred to as “slips.” Although Brooks and his associates stole checks with a combined face value of $6,574,288, law enforcement recovered many of these checks from Brooks’s home, and there is no evidence that Brooks succeeded in negotiating the remainder, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“In addition to personally committing bank fraud, Brooks brazenly marketed and sold fraud tutorials and trafficked thousands of stolen checks worth millions of dollars. Thankfully, Brooks’s ineptitude matched his boldness—his efforts to negotiate the checks failed, sparing his victims from any known loss,” said U.S. Attorney Hertzberg.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Secret Service, and the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, with assistance from the Dunwoody Police Department and the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica C. Morris prosecuted the case.
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