ALBUQUERQUE – Michael Vallejos, 42, of Belen, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 72 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his conviction on conspiracy, fraud, identify theft and theft of mail charges.  During the sentencing hearing, the Court found that Vallejos was a leader and organizer of the conspiracy and that his criminal conduct resulted in a loss of $95,000 to $150,000. 

 

Vallejos and co-defendants Brandon Sanchez, 24, also of Belen, and Manuel Chavez, 36, Marissa Rios, 27, and Elisha Muller, 32, all of Albuquerque, were charged in a 16-count indictment filed on Dec. 7, 2016,  with conspiracy and eight counts of bank fraud.  The indictment also charged Vallejos with theft of mail, aggravated identity theft, and tendering of a stolen and altered postal money order, and Sanchez with theft of mail.  According to the indictment, the defendants committed the crimes from Nov. 2014 through March 2016, in Bernalillo and Valencia Counties, N.M., by stealing mail from authorized U.S. Mail depositories and from other individuals who had stolen mail.  The mail stolen included checks and personal identifiers of victims, which the defendants used to commit further crimes. 

 

On July 25, 2017, Vallejos pled guilty to conspiracy, three counts of theft or receipt of stolen mail, two counts of bank fraud, two counts of aggravated identity theft and one count of tendering of an altered postal money order.  In entering the guilty plea, Vallejos admitted the following:

Between Nov. 12, 2014 and March 26, 2015, Vallejos conspired with others to cash stolen checks that he fraudulently endorsed by forging the legitimate account holder’s name and then split the proceeds from the cashed checks;

On Nov. 11, 2014, Vallejos stole letters and mail from a U.S. Post Office in Jarales, N.M.;

On Jan. 2, 2015, and Jan. 14, 2015, Vallejos possessed mail he knew had been stolen;

On March 20, 2015, Vallejos personally cashed a stolen check that he had previously endorsed to himself;

On March 26, 2015, Vallejos attempted to cash a stolen check, but the check was rejected;

On April 6, 2016, Vallejos attempted to pass a stolen and altered postal money order at a U.S. Post Office; and

On March 20 and 26, 2015, Vallejos used the identity of another person to carry out fraudulent check transactions.

 

Three of Vallejos’ four co-defendants have entered guilty pleas and have been sentenced.  Sanchez pled guilty on April 18, 2017, and was sentenced on July 11, 2017.  Chavez pled guilty on March 22, 2017, and was sentenced on June 29, 2017.  Muller pled guilty on June 1, 2017, and was sentenced on Sept. 21, 2017. 

 

Rios has yet to be arrested and is considered a fugitive.  Charges in criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.

 

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated this case, which is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.