A postal worker, $5M and 600 stolen checks. Five charged in mail scheme.

Five Maryland residents were charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and bank fraud in a plot involving a USPS mail handler assistant and 600 stolen checks worth more than $5 million, prosecutors said.

In a statement, the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Maryland said Monday that a mail handler assistant at the USPS Washington Network Distribution Center stole some of the checks. The alleged conspirators also stole checks from USPS collection boxes, according to the statement.

Some alleged conspirators also recruited “account mules,” the statement said — people whose bank accounts were used to deposit illegally acquired checks and spend illegally secured funds. At least five people were victims of identity theft in the scheme, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said the people charged were Tianna Cosby, 23, of Upper Marlboro; Marche Sisco, 26, of Suitland; Tommi Cosby, 21, of District Heights; Biniah Carter, 24, of Upper Marlboro; and Zion Oluwademilade Adeduwon, 22, of Bowie.

Tommi and Tianna Cosby, Sisco and Carter entered pleas of not guilty earlier this week and were released pending trial after their court appearances. Adeduwon has not been located, prosecutors said.

It was not immediately clear whether all those charged in the case were represented by counsel. The attorneys of those represented who could be located were not immediately available for comment.

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