Two men sentenced for mail theft, check fraud

Staff Report

Two men were sentenced this week in federal court for fraudulently depositing checks stolen from the mail, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Imanol Rios-Franco, 26, of Canton, was sentenced Feb. 10 to 35 months in federal prison, followed by one year of supervised release and ordered to pay $12,528 in restitution. In November 2025, Rios-Franco pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to steal and possess stolen mail.

Brandon Baez, 23, of North Attleborough, was sentenced on Feb. 12 to two years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release and ordered to pay $10,285 in restitution. In November 2025, Baez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to steal and possess stolen mail.

Both were sentenced by Senior District Court Judge Patti B. Saris

From at least June 2023 until February 2024, the defendants and their co-conspirators stole mail from USPS collection boxes, looking to steal checks. After they stole these checks, they washed the hand-written ink from them using commercially available chemicals. The checks were then re-issued to the co-conspirators or other bank accounts that they controlled. 

After the checks were fraudulently deposited, the defendants and their co-conspirators withdrew money from ATMs or bought money orders with those fraudulently obtained funds. A review of the co-conspirators’ cellphones revealed that they had collaborated to advance this criminal scheme.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Thomas A. Greco, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Boston Field Division; and Nicholas Bucciarelli, Acting Inspector in Charge for the Boston Office of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service made the announcement. Assistance was provided by the Boston and Wellesley Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lucy Sun and Philip C. Cheng of the Criminal Division prosecuted the case.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad.