CEDAR RAPIDS – This Chicago criminal, versed in the arts of assault, forgery, perjury, and theft, immigrated to Iowa to try and fool us rubes with a phony check, but justice snared him, and now federal prison looms.
A former Cedar Rapids resident who cashed a phony check from a Chicago law firm was sentenced on June 27, 2025, to two years in federal prison. Shango Johnson, age 35, from Chicago, Illinois, received the prison term after a March 24, 2025, guilty plea to one count of aggravated identity theft.
In a plea agreement, Johnson (pictured at top) admitted that, in November 2023, he obtained a false and fraudulent check in the amount of $9,634 purportedly drawn on a Chicago law firm’s account. The law firm had closed the account in 2021 after its mail was stolen. Johnson deposited the fraudulent check into his own bank account in Cedar Rapids. The check falsely stated it was intended for Johnson’s “[p]ersonal injury final settlement payout”; in truth, Johnson had not received a settlement for a personal injury lawsuit and was not entitled to any of the funds in the law firm’s bank account. Johnson then attempted to use funds drawn from the bogus check before his bank could discover that the check from the law firm was fraudulent.
Johnson has an extensive criminal history. Johnson has more than 20 adult criminal convictions in state court, including for assault, forgery, perjury, and theft.
Johnson was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. Johnson was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a one-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Johnson is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Timothy L. Vavricek and investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.