Two Leaders of Decade-Long Bank Fraud Ring Sentenced, Ringleader Gets 180 Months
On May 11, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that two members of a bank fraud ring that operated across the United States for nearly a decade were sentenced in the Southern District of Alabama: Demetrius J. Manassa, 38, of New York, was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison, and Jarrod A. Ross, 30, of Mobile, Alabama, was sentenced to 84 months. Judge Kristi K. DuBose also ordered the two to pay $687,259.04 in restitution and to serve five years of supervised release each.
According to the Justice Department, from September 2015 to April 2025 the ring stole mail, forged checks and money orders, impersonated dozens of identity-theft victims, and produced dozens of fake identification documents and hundreds of forged checks and money orders, carrying out millions of dollars in fraudulent transactions nationwide. In 2022, thousands of blank postal money orders were stolen from three postal facilities in New York and North Carolina and were later forged and cashed.
The department said the ring also wrote a single check for more than $1 million through a sham business account, and that victims included religious organizations, small businesses, charities and public schools. Ross and another co-conspirator also filed more than $400,000 in fraudulent unemployment insurance claims. Co-defendants S. Manassa, Williams and Sidberry have pleaded guilty and await sentencing.
U.S. Attorney Sean P. Costello for the Southern District of Alabama commented on the sentences, which were announced on May 11.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于美国华盛顿的美国司法部本部大楼入口石墙特写（资料照片）。G. Edward Johnson 摄，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons；联邦固定图库标准图。 / Photo: Entrance wall sign of the U.S. Department of Justice headquarters in Washington, D.C. (file photo). Photo by G. Edward Johnson, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; federal fixed-library image.
