Illinois man sentenced to 36 months for scheme to negotiate two stolen government checks
Published 2026-09-28 · County Crime Watch
An Illinois man was sentenced in the Eastern District of Wisconsin for attempting to negotiate two stolen government checks, the U.S. Department of Justice announced. According to the DOJ, on September 25, 2026, Coran D. Smith, 47, received 36 months’ imprisonment after a court found he took part in a scheme to try to cash a U.S. Treasury check and a State of Illinois check stolen from the mail.
Court records cited by the DOJ allege the March 2023 scheme involved producing a false driver’s license and other fraudulent documents in another person’s name to deceive two financial institutions into negotiating the stolen checks. The department said personnel at the targeted banks recognized the fraud and prevented the checks from being negotiated.
The DOJ statement credited the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration with investigating the case and named the prosecutor who handled it. The department also published remarks from officials emphasizing enforcement against mail theft and attempts to exploit Treasury refund checks.
The sentence was announced by the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin and the DOJ filing identifies the guilty conduct and prosecutorial outcome on the specified date.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice · Agency release: 2026-09-28. Original report by County Crime Watch.