Essex County Man Sentenced to 51 Months in Prison for Bank Fraud Conspiracy Related to Checks Stolen from U.S. Mail

NEWARK, N.J. – An Essex County, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 51 months in prison for his role in a bank fraud conspiracy related to the theft of checks from the U.S. mail, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Baba Diakite, 23, of East Orange, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Esther Salas to one count of an indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit bank fraud. His conspirator, Nasir Johnson, was previously sentenced last year by Judge Salas to 49 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to commit mail theft and possess stolen mail, and theft of a U.S. Postal Service key. Judge Salas imposed the sentences in Newark federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From at least January 2020 to March 2022, Diakite, Johnson, and others conspired to steal checks from the mail in communities across New Jersey. Diakite and his conspirators used misappropriated keys belonging to the U.S. Postal Service to access mail collection receptacles and steal envelopes that contained checks. After stealing the checks, Diakite and his conspirators sold them to third parties or deposited them, sometimes in altered form for higher amounts, into bank accounts. Diakite and others then defrauded the banks by withdrawing money from the bank accounts. Diakite agreed that he caused a loss of between $550,000 and $1.5 million.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Salas sentenced Diakite to three years of supervised release.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited postal inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector in Charge Christopher A. Nielsen; special agents with the U.S. Postal Service - Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Matthew Modafferi, Northeast Area Field Office; and special agents with the Office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Andrew McKay, with the investigation leading to the sentencing.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Casey S. Smith of the General Crimes Unit in Newark.