Mail thief stole rent, utility checks, pocketed nearly $37,000, federal prosecutors say

A Palm Beach County man has been sentenced to 2 ½ years in prison after admitting he stole more than a dozen checks from mailboxes and pocketed nearly $37,000.

Danny Seruto Perez, who is in his mid-20s, pleaded guilty to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft after federal prosecutors accused him of stealing rent, utility and other personal checks from mailboxes in Central Florida.

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His roughly two dozen victims contacted law-enforcement agencies after the checks they mailed in July 2018 never arrived, leaving their bills unpaid. For some, their losses skyrocketed.

Federal agents said Perez “washed” the checks with chemicals to remove the ink. He then made them payable to him and, in some cases, increased the amounts of the original checks.

While he put most of the checks into his personal account, he also made some of the checks out to friends, who helped him in the scheme, according to court records.

In addition to a 30-month prison sentence, Seruto Perez was ordered to repay $36,700 to his victims.

Jane Musgrave covers federal and civil courts and occasionally ventures into criminal trials in state court. Contact her at jmusgrave@pbpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida man who stole checks from mailboxes sentenced to prison