The ‘lynchpin’ of a scheme to steal $84 million worth of U.S. Treasury checks was sentenced to five years in prison

The plan seemed simple enough.

While working as a U.S. Postal Service clerk in Philadelphia, Saahir Irby had access to government-issued checks that were marked “return to sender” when they couldn’t be delivered.

Starting in 2023, prosecutors said, rather than help those checks get back to the U.S. Treasury Department, Irby decided to begin stealing them: stuffing them into his coat, his pockets, his backpack, and then working with other people to resell them on the social media platform Telegram.

In about a year, prosecutors said, Irby pocketed profits of nearly $75,000 — money he and his lawyers said he put toward a “severe” gambling addiction.

But the face value of the checks he stole exceeded $84 million, prosecutors said. And the government ultimately paid out about $11 million in fraudulent benefits to people who’d bought stolen checks from Irby or his co-conspirators.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Joshua Wolson sentenced Irby to more than five years in prison for his role in the scheme, which the judge called a “significant, serious crime.”

Irby, 28, said he understood and apologized. He told Wolson his gambling addiction had consumed him and led him to take actions he knew were wrong — at one point, he said, he was directing 80% of his earnings toward casinos — and he vowed not to commit similar transgressions in the future.

“I owe it to myself, and especially my son, because I don’t want him to follow in my footsteps,” Irby said.

The penalty imposed on Irby served as a final chapter in the check-stealing scheme. His three co-defendants — Tauheed Tucker, Cory Scott, and Alexander Telewoda — were each also sentenced to at least three years in prison by Wolson.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Rice said in court Monday that Irby was the “lynchpin” of the conspiracy, and said the number of checks he stole, and the amount they were worth, were “eye popping.”

Both she and Wolson also said that beyond the monetary loss, the scheme was a violation of Irby’s responsibility to the public. As a Postal Service worker, they said, he had access to huge amounts of sensitive materials being sent by mail — including the government-issued checks, which came from agencies such as the Internal Revenue System, Social Security Administration, and Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Postal Service “needs employees in its facilities operating the various lines, and it needs them to be honest and upright,” Wolson said. “Mr. Irby breached that trust.”

The scheme began in June 2023, prosecutors said, when Irby started coordinating with Scott and Telewoda. Irby’s role was to steal the checks from the postal facility, prosecutors said, then give them to Scott and Telewoda, who would advertise them for sale online at a fraction of their face value. Buyers could then try to find a bank or financial institution to cash the stolen checks.

Rice said Irby, during his shifts, would visit the part of the facility where checks were sent after they couldn’t get delivered to their intended recipients. He would then steal dozens at a time, often by stuffing them into bags or his clothes.

Later that summer, prosecutors said, Irby recruited Tucker, his younger cousin and coworker, to help steal checks from the facility. Each received a small cut of the resale proceeds.

The conspiracy continued for about a year, prosecutors said, at which point Irby and Tucker were fired and charged alongside Scott and Telewoda with conspiracy and theft-related crimes.

All pleaded guilty earlier this year.

Irby’s sentence will total 63 months in prison, along with three years of supervised release.

Telewoda earlier this year received a six-and-a-half year prison sentence, Scott was sentenced to nearly six years behind bars, and Tucker was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison.