PHILADELPHIA – 10/19/26 – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that four area men have been sentenced to prison by United States District Judge Joshua D. Wolson for conspiring to steal and sell thousands of U.S. Treasury checks.
The defendants were charged by superseding indictment in May of 2025. All four pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiracy to steal government funds, theft of government funds, and mail theft.
Saahir Irby, 28, and Tauheed Tucker, 25, both of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, were sentenced today by Judge Wolson — Irby to 63 months’ incarceration, three years of supervised release, restitution of $10,841,731.83, and forfeiture of $72,510, and Tucker to 42 months’ incarceration, three years of supervised release, restitution of $2,628,984.39, and forfeiture of $28,200.
Cory Scott, 26, of Ardmore, Pa., was sentenced on October 14 to 70 months in prison, three years of supervised release, restitution of $10,841,731.83, and forfeiture of $298,973.
Alexander Telewoda, 26, of Clifton Heights, Pa., was sentenced in August to 78 months in prison, three years of supervised release, restitution of $10,841,731.83, and forfeiture of $162,144.50.
As detailed in court filings and statements, between June 2023 and September 2024, Irby and Tucker, while working as United States Postal Service (“USPS”) mail processing clerks, stole thousands of envelopes containing U.S. Treasury checks from mail sorting machines at the USPS Philadelphia Processing and Distribution Center.
Irby and Tucker removed the checks from the USPS facility and sold them to defendants Scott and Telewoda, who then advertised the stolen checks for resale on the Telegram app. Upon receiving payment from interested buyers, Scott and Telewoda mailed the stolen Treasury checks to buyers around the country who attempted to cash the stolen checks.
Over the course of the scheme, Irby and Tucker sold Scott and Telewoda thousands of stolen Treasury checks whose face value exceeded $84 million. Scott’s and Telewoda’s customers successfully negotiated approximately $11 million worth of these stolen Treasury checks at financial institutions.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, FBI, and Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, with substantial assistance from the Montgomery County Detective Bureau, Lower Merion Township Police Department, and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jessica Rice.
