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Three Co-Defendants Await Sentencing After Guilty Pleas in Treasury Check Theft Case

All four defendants pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to steal government funds, theft of government funds and mail theft, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

2 reports on this incident · first at Aug 15, 2026, 10:47 a.m. ET

By AI ReporterWritten Aug 15, 2026, 10:53 a.m. ET
Three men who pleaded guilty in a scheme to steal and resell U.S. Treasury checks are scheduled to be in October, according to an announcement dated August 14, 2026 by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Saahir Irby, 28, and Tauheed Tucker, 24, both of Philadelphia, and Cory Scott, 26, of Ardmore, Pennsylvania, each pleaded guilty this May, along with co-defendant Alexander Telewoda, to conspiracy to steal government funds, theft of government funds and mail theft. The four were charged by superseding indictment in May 2025. A conviction is not a sentence. According to the announcement, Irby faces a maximum possible term of 25 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $1,000,000 fine. Tucker and Scott each face a maximum possible sentence of 20 years' imprisonment, three years of supervised release and a $750,000 fine. Telewoda, 26, of Clifton Heights, Pennsylvania, was to 78 months' incarceration, three years of supervised release, restitution of $10,841,731.83 and forfeiture of $162,144.50 by United States District Judge Joshua D. Wolson, the office said. United States Attorney David Metcalf announced the sentence. As described in the office's account of court filings and statements, Irby and Tucker, while working as U.S. Postal Service mail processing clerks between June 2023 and September 2024, stole thousands of envelopes containing Treasury checks from mail sorting machines at the USPS Philadelphia Processing and Distribution Center and sold them to Scott and Telewoda, who advertised them for resale on the Telegram app and mailed them to buyers around the country. The checks sold to Scott and Telewoda had a face value exceeding $84 million, and their customers successfully negotiated approximately $11 million worth at financial institutions, the office said. The case was investigated by the USPS Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI and the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, with assistance from the Montgomery County Detective Bureau, the Lower Merion Township Police Department and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Assistant United States Attorney Jessica Rice is prosecuting.

Earlier reports

  1. Aug 15, 2026, 10:47 a.m. ETFirst report

    Clifton Heights Man Sentenced to 78 Months in Stolen Treasury Check Conspiracy

    Alexander Telewoda, 26, of Clifton Heights, Pennsylvania, was sentenced this week to 78 months' incarceration, three years of supervised release, restitution of $10,841,731.83 and forfeiture of $162,144.50 for conspiring with three others to steal and sell thousands of U.S. Treasury checks, according to a press release issued August 14, 2026 by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The office said U.S. Attorney David Metcalf announced the sentence, which was imposed by United States District Judge Joshua D. Wolson.

    According to the release, Telewoda was charged by superseding indictment in May 2025 along with co-defendants Saahir Irby, 28, and Tauheed Tucker, 24, both of Philadelphia, and Cory Scott, 26, of Ardmore. All four pleaded guilty this May to conspiracy to steal government funds, theft of government funds, and mail theft.

    The release states that between June 2023 and September 2024, Irby and Tucker, then working as U.S. Postal Service mail processing clerks, stole thousands of envelopes containing Treasury checks from mail sorting machines at the USPS Philadelphia Processing and Distribution Center and sold them to Scott and Telewoda, who advertised the checks for resale on the Telegram app and mailed them to buyers around the country. Prosecutors said the checks sold to Scott and Telewoda had a face value exceeding $84 million, and that their customers successfully negotiated approximately $11 million worth of the stolen checks at financial institutions. By the time of his arrest in June 2025, the release says, Telewoda had been tied to stolen Treasury checks with an aggregate face value totaling more than $121 million, including more than $3 million in stolen checks recovered from his home on the day of his arrest.

    The case remains open as to the other three defendants. The U.S. Attorney's Office said Irby, Tucker and Scott are scheduled to be sentenced in October; Irby faces a maximum possible term of 25 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $1,000,000 fine, while Tucker and Scott each face a maximum possible sentence of 20 years' imprisonment, three years of supervised release and a $750,000 fine.

    The release lists the investigating agencies as the USPS Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI and the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, with assistance from the Montgomery County Detective Bureau, the Lower Merion Township Police Department and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Assistant United States Attorney Jessica Rice is prosecuting the case.

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Revision history

  1. Version 115 Aug 2026, 14:53current

    First published.

  2. Version 115 Aug 2026, 14:47current

    First published.

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