Two Massachusetts men are headed to federal prison following a scheme that involved snatching mail from collection boxes and chemically “washing” stolen checks to drain bank accounts.
Imanol Rios-Franco, 26, of Canton, was sentenced on February 10, 2026, by Senior District Court Judge Patti B. Saris to 35 months behind bars. His sentence includes one year of supervised release and a requirement to pay $12,528 in restitution.
Just two days later, 23-year-old Brandon Baez of North Attleboro received a two-year prison sentence from the same judge, followed by five years of supervised release and a $10,285 restitution order. Both men had previously pleaded guilty in November 2025 to charges of bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and conspiracy to steal and possess stolen mail.
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The operation, which ran from June 2023 through February 2024, relied on the physical theft of mail from U.S. Postal Service collection boxes. Federal investigators found that once the men intercepted the mail, they used commercially available chemicals to erase handwritten ink from checks—a process known as “washing.”
These checks were then rewritten to the defendants or various accounts they controlled. The duo and their associates then quickly converted the stolen funds into cash via ATM withdrawals or by purchasing money orders.
According to prosecutors, the extent of the collaboration was laid bare during the investigation. “A review of the co-conspirators’ cellphones revealed that they had collaborated to advance this criminal scheme,” officials stated during the announcement of the sentencing.
The arrests and subsequent convictions were the result of a massive joint effort. United States Attorney Leah B. Foley announced the results alongside Thomas A. Greco of the ATF and Nicholas Bucciarelli of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The Boston and Wellesley Police Departments also played a key role in the investigation, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lucy Sun and Philip C. Cheng.
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Federal Prison For Massachusetts Duo In ‘Check Washing’ Mail Theft Scheme
