BATON ROUGE MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT BANK FRAUD AND THEFT OF MAIL

Marvell Trevenski Jackson, Jr., age 26, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Brian A. Jackson to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and theft of mail, announced U.S. Attorney Kurt L. Wall.

According to admissions made as part of his guilty plea, between at least July 2023, and continuing through at least May 2025, Jackson conspired with others, known and unknown, to defraud federally insured financial institutions, including Neighbor's Federal Credit Union ("NFCU"), Essential Federal Credit Union ("EFCU"), First Guarantee Bank and Trust ("FGB"), Navy Federal Credit Union ("Navy FCU"), and Regions Bank, among others. Jackson and his co-conspirators employed a variety of methods, including stealing or obtaining stolen mail to obtain personal and financial information of bank customers; altering or washing checks stolen from the mail; creating counterfeit checks using stolen bank account information; disseminating spam text messages designed to trick bank customers into revealing bank account information and login credentials; and using that confidential information to unlawfully access and transfer funds from victims accounts. To further the purpose of the conspiracy and to evade detection, Jackson recruited other individuals, commonly known as "money mules," to either open accounts or whose existing accounts could be used to receive the fraud proceeds. Once the stolen funds were deposited into the accounts held by the money mules or other co-conspirators, these individuals withdrew the funds, keeping a portion for themselves and providing the majority to Jackson.

Between at least July 2023 and continuing until at least May 2024, Jackson conspired with others, known and unknown, to obtain personal identifying information ("PII"), along with personal and business checks, that were stolen from the U.S. mail.

For example, between July 1, 2023, and September 26, 2023, Jackson communicated with a co-conspirator, a mail carrier and resident of Denham Springs, Louisiana, to purchase over $119,000 worth of checks stolen from the mail, including a check in the amount of $1,450. Members of the conspiracy later altered the check, changing the payee to that of a money mule and the amount payable to $60,000. Members of the conspiracy deposited the check at a Regions Bank in Baton Rouge. The funds were withdrawn before the bank identified the fraud, causing a loss of $60,000 to Regions Bank.

In another instance, in or around February 7, 2024, Jackson stole mail, including personal and business checks totaling at least $20,378 that had been placed for collection in the blue boxes at the US Postal Service's office located on Florida Street in Baton Rouge. These stolen checks and others, totaling over $270,000, were later located in a residence used by Jackson, along with the tools and supplies required for printing counterfeit checks.

In total, Jackson and his conspirators obtained or sought to obtain over $500,000 by negotiating, and attempting to negotiate, altered or counterfeit checks using checks and other financial data obtained from stolen U.S. mail.

Members of the conspiracy also engaged in "smishing," short for "SMS phishing," a cyber-attack technique whereby perpetrators use Short Message Service ("SMS") or text messages purporting to be from reputable companies to induce victims to reveal personal information, such as usernames, passwords, or bank account numbers.

Between April and May 2025, members of the conspiracy sent fraudulent text messages to customers of NFCU, EFCU, and FGB. The text messages falsely reported unauthorized financial transactions and directed customers to provide login credentials and other confidential information needed to access their bank accounts. In some instances, members of the conspiracy followed fraudulent text messages with phone calls to customers to elicit personal and confidential information regarding their accounts by impersonating bank employees.

Members of the conspiracy then used the bank account information provided by customers to conduct unauthorized electronic transfers of funds from victims' accounts. To conceal the fraud and evade detection, Jackson advertised the scheme using his Instagram account and recruited money mules to open bank accounts at NFCU, EFCU, and FGB, which could be used to receive unauthorized electronic transfers from customers' bank accounts in exchange for keeping a portion of the funds.

Thereafter, members of the conspiracy unlawfully accessed and transferred funds from customer's accounts to the accounts opened by money mules at NFCU, EFCU, and FGB. Jackson directed the money mules to withdraw or to electronically transfer the stolen funds to himself or other members of the conspiracy.

Jackson and his co-conspirators executed the smishing scheme in East Baton Rouge Parish, Iberville Parish, Livingston Parish, and others, defrauding financial institutions including NFCU, EFCU, FGB, and their customers of over $300,000.

Jackson's convictions are punishable by a maximum of 35 years in prison, a $1,250,000 fine, and up to 8 years of supervised release. The Court may also order restitution.

"Fraud comes in all shapes and sizes," stated U.S. Attorney Wall. "This administration, and our office, are committed to using every tool available to pursue fraudsters and hold them fully accountable for their actions."

U.S. Attorney Kurt L. Wall praised the work of the U.S. Postal Service, East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office, Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office, and Iberville Parish Sheriff's Office in investigating this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen Lundin Craig is in charge of the prosecution.