Five people, including three U.S. Postal Service mail carriers, are facing federal charges in an alleged stolen-check operation prosecutors say involved nearly $24 million worth of checks.
A federal grand jury indicted Tryston Tremaine Vaughn, Catherine Clauzelle Kilpatrick, Drakkor Jamar Alexander, Malcolm Tiree Joubert and Alyssa Nadine Bryant.
The indictment, filed Aug. 19 in the Southern District of Texas, accuses the group of participating in a scheme involving checks stolen from the mail and later resold.
Federal prosecutors say the defendants and their co-conspirators acquired and sold approximately $23,973,338.15 in stolen checks.
According to the indictment, Vaughn recruited USPS mail carriers to steal mail, specifically checks, from their routes.
Prosecutors identify Kilpatrick, Alexander and Joubert as the three postal carriers allegedly recruited by Vaughn. Bryant is accused of working with Vaughn to purchase stolen checks from postal employees.
The indictment says Vaughn and his co-conspirators then posted stolen checks for sale on a Telegram channel called “slipsandchips.”
After a check was purchased, prosecutors say the stolen checks were shipped to buyers through FedEx.
The dollar amounts outlined in the indictment range from thousands of dollars to more than $1 million.
Prosecutors allege Kilpatrick stole a $9,858.01 check drawn from a Chase Bank account while working as a USPS mail carrier in Houston in October 2023. The indictment says she then sold stolen checks to Vaughn.
Alexander is accused of stealing a $16,636.54 check drawn from an Amegy Bank account while working as a postal carrier in Houston in March 2024.
Then there is the largest individual check identified in the indictment.
Prosecutors say Joubert stole a check worth $1,517,875.27 from the mail while working as a USPS carrier in Houston in May 2024. The check was drawn from a BMO Bank account. Prosecutors say Joubert then sold stolen checks to Vaughn.
The indictment describes that $1.5 million check as mail matter that had been “entrusted” to Joubert as a postal employee and was intended to be delivered through the mail.
The indictment also identifies a $79,894.60 Citibank check that prosecutors say Vaughn mailed to a purchaser from the Telegram channel in April 2024.
In September 2024, prosecutors allege Vaughn and Bryant mailed another stolen check, this one worth $25,007.25 and drawn from a Stellar Bank account, to a purchaser from the Telegram channel.
Prosecutors say the alleged conspiracy began around October 2022 and continued through the filing of the indictment this month. The federal case alleges the group sought to defraud Chase Bank, Amegy Bank, Citibank, BMO Bank and Stellar Bank.
KPRC 2 also reviewed Harris County court records involving Vaughn and Bryant.
Records reviewed by KPRC 2 show Vaughn previously faced several separate criminal cases in Harris County, including allegations involving assault of a family or household member by impeding breathing, unauthorized use of a vehicle, violation of a protective order and weapons-related charges.
Four of the five previous Vaughn cases visible in the records reviewed by KPRC 2 were listed as dismissed. Another case involving an alleged violation of a protective order was listed as disposed. The record reviewed by KPRC 2 did not provide enough information to characterize that disposition further.
Those cases are separate from the new federal allegations.
Records reviewed by KPRC 2 also show Bryant was charged with making a terroristic threat in Harris County in 2022. That case was dismissed.
A dismissal means the charge did not result in a conviction and the previous allegations should not be confused with the charges Vaughn and Bryant now face in federal court.
All five defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and multiple bank fraud counts.
Kilpatrick, Alexander and Joubert each face an additional federal charge of theft of mail matter by a postal employee.
The federal government also filed notice that, if the defendants are convicted, prosecutors intend to seek forfeiture of property connected to the alleged offenses. Prosecutors also intend to seek a monetary judgment. The charges contained in an indictment are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.