Illegal Alien From Honduras Sentenced To 27 Months In Prison For 2023 Bank Fraud Conspiracy

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA - The United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Carlos Banegas-Contreras, age 47, an illegal alien from Honduras, was sentenced to 27 months in prison for one count of Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud.

The charge arose from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, the United States Secret Service, the Indiana State Police, the Benton County, Indiana Sheriff's Department, the Benton County, Indiana Prosecutor's Office, the Poteau, Oklahoma Police Department, and the Houston, Texas Police Department.

On October 6, 2025, Banegas-Contreras pleaded guilty to the charge in federal district court.

According to investigators, in June of 2023, Banegas-Contreras and others conspired to use fake identification cards to cash 178 fraudulent paychecks totaling $299,474.00 at three check-cashing businesses and at five branches of a local bank. The fraudulent paychecks were designed to look like they had been issued by a building materials supply company in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

The Honorable John F. Heil, III, Chief Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the hearing. Banegas-Contreras will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending transportation to a designated United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve a non-paroleable sentence of incarceration.

Assistant U.S. Attorney T. Cameron McEwen represented the United States.