Doug Howard
Law Enforcement Coordinator/Public Information Officer
U.S. Attorney’s Office- Middle District of Alabama
Montgomery, Alabama – Today, United States Attorney Sandra J. Stewart announced that Alberto Carlos Varona, 30, from Miami, Florida, received a sentence of 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to possession of stolen mail.
According to his plea agreement and other court records, in February of 2021, Prattville, Alabama law enforcement officers received information about attempts to cash stolen checks at various banks. On February 26, 2021, officers from the Prattville Police Department initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle they suspected to be involved in the scheme.
Officers identified Varona as the driver and, upon searching the vehicle, found 37 stolen checks. Soon after, a federal grand jury indicted Varona on four counts of possession of stolen mail matter. Varona pleaded guilty to these charges on September 29, 2021. During the May 10, 2023, sentencing hearing, the court considered the significant amount of potential loss from all 37 of the stolen checks when determining Varona’s sentence.
The Prattville Police Department, the United States Secret Service, and the United States Postal Inspection Service investigated this case, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Assistant United States Attorney Justin L. Jones prosecuted the case.
