Jamiesfeast – A Texan individual has admitted to stealing over $100,000 from banks in Montana as part of an organized syndicate. This syndicate used fake checks and stolen identities to deceive the banks. As a result, the individual has been sentenced to four years in prison. In addition, they will be under supervised release for five years and have been ordered to pay restitution of $103,149 by U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich.
In August 2023, Shanetwann Clayton Waldon, a 46-year-old individual from Dallas, Texas, admitted his guilt on charges of bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Court documents reveal that Waldon, along with a group of accomplices, embarked on multiple trips from Texas to Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming with the purpose of cashing fraudulent checks at smaller financial institutions. Waldon specifically targeted rural areas due to their more relaxed banking processes compared to Texas. Between 2022 and 2023, Waldon successfully executed his scheme on ten separate occasions, stealing thousands of dollars by infiltrating various banks. To elude law enforcement, Waldon assumed a fake identity and forged documents, creating debts under other people’s names. Notably, Waldon’s targets in Montana included banks in Hamilton, Bozeman, Billings, and Missoula. Despite the arrest of his initial co-defendants, Waldon continued his fraudulent activities for several months. In total, Waldon and his co-defendants managed to steal $141,822 from 30 bank branches across three states. As for Waldon himself, he currently owes a total of $103,149 to six Montana banks, namely First Interstate Bank, TrailWest Bank, First Security Bank, Opportunity Bank of Montana, Farmers State Bank, and Western Security Bank.