(NIT photo)
CEDAR RAPIDS — A Chicago felon who supplied recruits with stolen Treasury checks, fake identification and victims’ personal information to raid Eastern Iowa financial institutions has been sentenced to 13 years and four months in federal prison.
Tyrone Terrell Harris (pictured at top), 34, was sentenced September 9 after admitting his role in a scheme involving nearly $1.44 million in stolen or altered government checks. Federal prosecutors said Harris and his co-conspirators successfully pocketed $462,696.56 in taxpayer money.
Chief U.S. District Judge C.J. Williams described the operation as sophisticated and a “massive fraud.”
Harris pleaded guilty March 24 to 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.
Fake identities, fraudulent businesses and quick cash withdrawals
According to federal prosecutors, Harris recruited participants from across the country and supplied them with stolen and altered U.S. Treasury checks to present at Eastern Iowa financial institutions in 2023 and 2024.
The recruits arrived equipped with fake driver’s licenses bearing the names of the checks’ rightful recipients. Harris also provided those victims’ actual Social Security numbers and birth dates.
In some instances, he supplied incorporation documents fraudulently obtained from the Iowa Secretary of State, giving participants paperwork to open business accounts under stolen identities.
The participants opened individual and corporate bank accounts in victims’ names, then quickly withdrew the money in cash to avoid detection.
At sentencing, Harris admitted involvement with 15 stolen or altered Treasury checks between March 2023 and February 2024. Their combined face value was $1,437,833.36, and his crimes involved 11 victims.
Prison sentence comes with substantial restitution order
Williams sentenced Harris to 160 months in prison and ordered him to pay $760,575.43 in restitution. The prosecutor’s announcement did not explain why the restitution figure exceeds the amount the group reportedly obtained.
Harris must also serve three years of supervised release after prison. There is no parole in the federal system.
His criminal record includes convictions in Illinois, Georgia and Oklahoma. Prosecutors cited Oklahoma felony convictions for attempting to elude a police officer, driving under the influence and running a roadblock, along with Illinois battery and reckless conduct convictions. The reckless conduct case involved a drive-by shooting in which Harris was the driver.
Harris remained in U.S. Marshals custody pending transfer to a federal prison, according to the announcement.
Five other men convicted in the scheme
Harris was the sixth defendant convicted in the operation. The other defendants included three Cedar Rapids men:
- Dale Ford, 60, of Cedar Rapids: Sentenced March 14, 2025, to 36 months in prison and three years of supervised release for forged endorsement on a Treasury check and aggravated identity theft. He was ordered to pay $91,916 in restitution. Prosecutors said he had more than 30 prior criminal convictions.
- Tim Dale Howe, 62, of Cedar Rapids: Sentenced July 28, 2025, to six months in prison, six months of home confinement and three years of supervised release for forged endorsement on a Treasury check and money laundering conspiracy. Restitution was set at $87,851.37.
- Cornelius Devon Hicks, 50, of Cedar Rapids: Sentenced July 7, 2025, to 41 months in prison and three years of supervised release for forged endorsement on a Treasury check and money laundering. He was ordered to pay $47,175.65 in restitution.
- Edgar Stacey Delgado, 32, of East Los Angeles, California: Sentenced February 26, 2025, to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release for forged endorsement on a Treasury check and aggravated identity theft. Restitution was set at $201,510.69.
- Irvin Lantern, 68, of Chicago: Sentenced February 4, 2025, to 24 months in prison and three years of supervised release for forged endorsement on a Treasury check and aggravated identity theft. He was ordered to pay $33,000 in restitution.
The case concerns checks stolen or altered after issuance. Separately, NIT previously reported on Treasury efforts to flag questionable federal payments before money leaves government accounts, another front in efforts to protect taxpayer funds.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy L. Vavricek prosecuted the case. IRS Criminal Investigation and the FBI conducted the investigation with assistance from the Cedar Rapids Police Department.