OKLAHOMA CITY – Ten individuals have admitted conspiring to steal mail throughout the Oklahoma City metro area, forge checks found in the pilfered mail, and deposit those checks to get cash from financial institutions.
In one case, Derry Lee Davis, 24, Antajaun Monzelle Brown Jr., 24, Amaurion Ramone Norment, 21, Olivernaesha Olieah Woods, 22, Lorenzo Jones IV, 24, and Matei Leann Bass, 23, all of Oklahoma City, along with Dazjuan Jerae Demond Matthews, 21, of Kansas, and Amarion Adrione Whiteside, 22, of Texas, all pleaded guilty in federal district court here.
They admitted using a stolen U.S. Postal Service “arrow key” to steal the mail from postal deposit boxes. Arrow keys are universal keys USPS uses to access collection boxes, outdoor parcel lockers, cluster box units, and apartment panels; they are typically referred to as “arrow keys” because of the common engraving of an arrow on one side of the device.
Evidence collected in the case showed that starting in 2022, Davis possessed a stolen arrow key that he and other conspirators used to access and steal mail from mail deposit boxes across the Oklahoma City area in search of checks. Davis and Brown would then alter information on stolen checks so that they could be deposited into the bank accounts of other conspirators who agreed to participate in the scheme.
To find people willing to join the scheme, court records alleged that Davis, Brown, Norment and others advertised the scheme on social media, urging those interested to contact them to make quick money. Matthews, Whiteside, Woods, Jones, Bass, and others agreed to join the conspiracy and allowed forged checks to be deposited into their bank accounts in exchange for a portion of the check proceeds.
Brown, Davis, Norment, Matthews, and Whiteside each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and face up to 30 years in federal prison. Brown also pleaded guilty to a second count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud for his role in a similar but separate check fraud scheme in Illinois and faces up to an additional 30 years in federal prison. Woods, Jones, and Bass each pleaded guilty to forgery of securities and face up to 10 years in federal prison.
• In a separate case, Deonte Montrell Hornsby, 28, of Oklahoma City, was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud and possession of stolen mail.
A postal inspector reported that armed robberies of U.S. Postal Service letter carriers occurred in Oklahoma City on Nov. 14 and Dec. 18, 2024. In each robbery a USPS arrow key was taken.
According to public records, between December 2024 and April 2025, Hornsby used a stolen USPS arrow key to steal mail from mail deposit boxes in Oklahoma City.
Hornsby then fraudulently altered checks found in the stolen mail and deposited the forged checks into bank accounts owned by co-conspirators to obtain cash from banks. In all, Hornsby and the co-conspirators were responsible for $72,728 in losses.
On April 18, 2025, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service placed a covert GPS transmitter inside a parcel and placed the parcel into a collection box located at the Southeast Station in Oklahoma City, which had been “repeatedly targeted for mail theft,” the postal inspector testified.
A federal search warrant was executed April 21 at Hornsby’s residence, and investigators found the parcel with the GPS transmitter, numerous stolen checks and “rifled U.S. mail,” and a handgun.
Hornsby pleaded guilty June 30 and was sentenced Nov. 3.
• In yet another case, Rahbin Joseph Ward, 27, of Oklahoma City, was sentenced to 12 months and one day in federal prison, and was ordered to pay $53,960 in restitution, for conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
Evidence gathered during investigation of the crime showed that from May through June 2023, Ward and other co-conspirators obtained checks from stolen mail, fraudulently altered the information on the checks, and deposited the forged instruments into Ward’s personal bank account.
The conspirators withdrew cash from Ward’s bank account that was funded by the forged checks, then used his debit card to make purchases at stores and businesses and made cash transfers from his bank account to other individuals.
On May 3, 2023, the conspirators deposited an altered check for $53,960 into Ward’s bank account, and on June 13, 2023, they deposited a forged check for $166,072 into his account Ward was indicted by a federal grand jury on April 16, pleaded guilty July 25, and was sentenced on Oct. 24.
All three cases were investigated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of the Inspector General and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.