FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) – A Florence man will spend the next 15 months in prison for creating and cashing counterfeit checks.
A press release from the office of United States Attorney Beth Drake confirms that Urban Oshea, II, 48, of Florence, was sentenced Tuesday in federal court for conspiracy to manufacture and pass counterfeit securities.
Oshea was sentenced to 15 months in prison and three years supervised release. Oshea was also ordered to pay over $31,000 in restitution to victims of the fraud.
During the guilty plea hearing, the prosecution presented evidence showing that from August 2015 through January of 2016 Oshea and others were involved in a conspiracy to create and cash fake checks from different organizations.
The co-conspirators would make counterfeit checks using genuine bank account and routing numbers they obtained from checks they stole out of mailboxes in Horry and Georgetown Counties, the release explains.
Oshea would then use fake driver’s licenses with his photograph but in another persons’ name which matched the names on the counterfeit checks, to pass the checks at various businesses. The Florence man would also use the checks to buy merchandise from one store, then go to a different store of the same chain and return the merchandise for cash.
The case was investigated by officers of the Horry County Police Department and agents of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant United States Attorney A. Bradley Parham of the Florence office handled the case.
