Oklahoma Man Sentenced to 45 Months in Prison for Committing Bank Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft in Springfield, Illinois

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - An Oklahoma City, Oklahoma man, Gerald Duran, 49, was sentenced on July 18, 2024, to 45 months in prison for bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. After he completes his prison sentence, he will serve three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $4,500 in restitution.

Duran was arrested on December 29, 2023, by Springfield Police Officers at a Springfield branch location of a national bank attempting to cash a cashier's check he had fraudulently obtained, according to court documents and information presented at the sentencing hearing in front of Senior U.S. District Judge Sue E. Myerscough. Earlier that same day Duran had secured two cashier's checks made out to two different individuals, along with cash totaling $13,500, from a different branch location of the same bank. Duran received the money by providing false identity documents and purporting to be an individual with an account at the bank. Duran also correctly answered personal security questions to include providing the social security number of the account holder. When Duran was arrested at the second branch location, he possessed identification cards for three separate victims. Each of the false identity documents contained Duran's picture with the name and information of real people. Duran has pending charges for similar conduct in Lee County, Florida.

Duran has been in custody since his arrest and pleaded guilty on March 19, 2024.

The statutory penalties for bank fraud are up to thirty years in prison, up to five years of supervised release, and up to a $1,000,000 fine. The statutory penalties for aggravated identity theft committed in relation to another felony are a mandatory 24-month sentence, to be served consecutive to the sentence for the underlying crime, up to one year of supervised release, and up to a $250,000 fine.

The Springfield Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Springfield Field Office, investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sierra Senor-Moore represented the government in the prosecution.