NEWARK, N.J. – Two Essex County, New Jersey, men were sentenced yesterday and today for their roles in a scheme to steal credit cards, debit cards, and checks from the mail and use the stolen cards and checks to attempt over a million dollars of retail and online purchases and cash withdrawals, Attorney for the United States Vikas Khanna announced today.

Jahad Salter, 26, of Newark, was sentenced to 60 months in prison, and Hakir Brown, 28, Newark, was sentenced to 31 months in prison. Salter had previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty to an information charging him with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and unlawfully possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, and Brown previously pleaded guilty before Judge McNulty to an information charging him with conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Judge McNulty imposed the sentences in Newark federal court.

Attorney for the United States Khanna credited postal inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Newark, under the direction of Acting Inspector in Charge Raimundo Marrero, Philadelphia Division; and special agents of the U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General, Northeast Area Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Matthew Modafferi, with the investigation leading to the sentencings.