Tehachapi Man Sentenced for Fraud and Identity Theft Offenses

FRESNO, Calif. - Blake Wayne Reed, 28, of Tehachapi, was sentenced today to four years and four months in prison and ordered to pay $48,052 in restitution for committing bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, between August 2020 and April 2021, Reed obtained hundreds of pieces of stolen mail that included at least 130 checks and approximately 30 debit cards or credit cards belonging to other individuals and businesses. Reed then forged signatures on the stolen checks and used the stolen debit cards to deposit the checks into victims' bank accounts. He then made cash withdrawals from the accounts. Reed's scheme caused more than $40,000 in fraudulent transactions to be made on the victims' accounts.

This case was the product of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brittany M. Gunter and Joseph D. Barton prosecuted the case.