Chicago Felon Convicted of Identity Theft and Money Laundering in U.S. Treasury Check Scheme

A felon who perpetrated an extensive scheme involving fraudulent U.S. Treasury checks at Eastern Iowa financial institutions in 2023 pled guilty on March 24, 2026, in federal court in Cedar Rapids. Tyrone Terrell Harris, age 34, from Chicago, Illinois, was convicted of five counts of theft of government property, five counts of aggravated identity theft, one count of money laundering, and one count of money laundering conspiracy.

Evidence presented at Harris's detention hearings, as well as at other hearings in related cases, showed that Harris provided fraudulent U.S. Treasury checks to co-conspirators for presentation to Eastern Iowa financial institutions. The co-conspirators had fake driver's licenses in the names of the persons to whom the U.S. Treasury had issued the checks and possessed these victims' social security numbers and dates of birth. The co-conspirators then opened bank accounts in the victims' names and quickly withdrew the fraud proceeds in cash to evade detection by law enforcement.

At his plea hearing, Harris admitted his involvement with five stolen U.S. Treasury checks in August and September 2023, with a combined face value of over $300,000 and in the names of five different victims. Harris also admitted that he personally withdrew $9,000 in fraud proceeds in cash to conceal the location of the fraud proceeds. Finally, Harris admitted that, between June and September 2023, he conspired with others to launder the fraud proceeds.

Harris has prior criminal convictions in Illinois, Georgia, and Oklahoma. He has prior felony convictions for attempting to elude a police officer, driving a motor vehicle under the influence, and running a roadblock in Oklahoma.

Harris is the latest defendant to plead guilty in the Northern District of Iowa as part of the fraudulent U.S. Treasury check scheme. Other individuals convicted include:

Edgar Stacey Delgado, age 32, from East Los Angeles, California, was convicted of one count of Forged Endorsement on a U.S. Treasury Check and one count of Aggravated Identity Theft. On February 26, 2025, Delgado was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment and three years of supervised release, and he was also ordered to pay $201,510.69 in restitution.

Irvin Lantern, age 68, from Chicago, Illinois, was convicted of one count of Forged Endorsement on a U.S. Treasury Check and one count of Aggravated Identity Theft. On February 4, 2025, Lantern was sentenced to 24 months' imprisonment and three years of supervised release, and he was also ordered to pay $33,000 in restitution. Lantern has an extensive criminal history in Illinois.

Dale Ford, age 60, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was convicted of one count of Forged Endorsement on a U.S. Treasury Check and one count of Aggravated Identity Theft. On March 14, 2025, Ford was sentenced to 36 months' imprisonment and three years of supervised release, and he was also ordered to pay $91,916 in restitution. Ford had over 30 prior criminal convictions by the time of his federal sentencing hearing.

Tim Dale Howe, age 62, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was convicted of one count of Forged Endorsement on a U.S. Treasury Check and one count of Money Laundering Conspiracy. On July 28, 2025, Howe was sentenced to 6 months of imprisonment, 6 months of home confinement, and three years of supervised release, and he was ordered to pay $87,851.37 in restitution. Howe previously was convicted in Florida in 2005 for committing a sex offense against a child.

Cornelius Devon Hicks, age 50, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was convicted of one count of Forged Endorsement on a U.S. Treasury Check and one count of Money Laundering. On July 7, 2025, Hicks was sentenced to 41 months' imprisonment and three years of supervised release, and he was ordered to pay $47,175.65 in restitution. Hicks has an extensive criminal history in Iowa and Tennessee.

Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Harris remains in the custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. Harris faces a mandatory minimum sentence of two years' imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of 100 years' imprisonment, a $3.5 million fine, and three years of supervised release following any imprisonment.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Timothy L. Vavricek and was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Cedar Rapids Police Department assisted in the investigation.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.plLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link..

The case file numbers are 25-CR-97 (Harris), 23-CR-90 (Delgado), 23-CR-49 (Ford), 23-CR-2077 (Lantern), 24-CR-63 (Howe), and 24-CR-80 (Hicks).

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