Four Admit Bank Fraud Linked to Stolen Mail

ST. LOUIS - Four people from Warren County, Missouri have pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the theft of mail, checks and other personal information.

Elijah Briggs, 42, pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to three counts of bank fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft. Jessica Kirkpatrick, 44, pleaded guilty in a separate hearing Wednesday to two counts of bank fraud.

Reuben Kim, 36, pleaded guilty April 2 to two counts of bank fraud. Holly Naylor, 41, pleaded guilty in August to two counts of bank fraud.

Briggs admitted stealing U.S. mail from mailboxes and blank checks from homes while working as a contractor. In 2019, he accessed a couple's online bank account and transferred money to a PayPal account and accounts in the names of other victims of identity theft. He also stole a check from the couple's neighbor's mailbox and deposited the altered check, causing a loss of $1,264.

Briggs was later caught with stolen mail belonging to dozens of people, more than 30 stolen debit or credit cards and over 100 checks in the names of other people. The total dollar amount on the stolen or fraudulent checks was $116,279. Briggs also had a notebook containing the names and personally identifiable information of several other people.

In 2021, Briggs stole and used a credit card from the home of his employer's client, and then tried to cash his payroll check multiple times. He also created fraudulent checks that were deposited by Kirkpatrick, Naylor and Kim. His laptop contained images of fraudulent checks totaling $35,098.

In October of 2021, St. Charles Police Department officers stopped Briggs and found drugs, blank check paper and stolen or fraudulent checks totaling $40,423.

In their guilty pleas, Kirkpatrick, Naylor and Kim admitted cashing fraudulent checks created by Briggs.

Bank fraud is punishable by up to 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine or both prison and a fine. Each aggravated identity theft charge is punishable by two years in prison, consecutive to any other charge.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Warren County Sheriff's Department, the St. Charles Police Department, the St. Peters Police Department, and the Wentzville Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Klocke prosecuted the case.