Chicago felon sentenced to more than decade in federal prison in “massive” U.S. Treasury check scheme

Date: Sept. 21, 2026

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

A Chicago felon who perpetrated a sophisticated and extensive fraud scheme involving stolen and altered U.S. Treasury checks presented at Eastern Iowa financial institutions in 2023 and 2024 was sentenced on Sept. 9, 2026, to more than 13 years in federal prison.

Tyrone Terrell Harris from Chicago, Illinois, received the prison term after he pled guilty on March 24, 2026, to five counts of theft of government property, five counts of aggravated identity theft, one count of money laundering, and one count of money laundering conspiracy.

Evidence presented in Harris’s case, as well as at other hearings in related cases, showed that Harris provided nearly $1.5 million in stolen and altered U.S. Treasury checks to co-conspirators for presentation to Eastern Iowa financial institutions. Harris recruited his co-conspirators, including felons and a sex offender, from across the United States. Once in Eastern Iowa, Harris armed the co-conspirators with fake driver’s licenses in the names of the persons to whom the U.S. Treasury had issued the checks and these victims’ true social security numbers and dates of birth. In some cases, Harris also supplied the co-conspirators with incorporation documents fraudulently obtained from the Iowa Secretary of State. The co-conspirators then opened individual and corporate bank accounts in the victims’ names and quickly withdrew the fraud proceeds in cash to evade detection by law enforcement.

At his sentencing hearing, Harris admitted his involvement with 15 stolen or altered U.S. Treasury checks, between March 2023 and February 2024, with a combined face value of $1,437,833.36. Harris perpetrated his fraud, identity theft, and money laundering crimes against 11 victims. Harris and his co-conspirators successfully obtained $462,696.56 in taxpayer money.

Harris has prior criminal convictions in Illinois, Georgia, and Oklahoma. He has prior felony convictions for attempting to elude a police officer, driving a motor vehicle under the influence, and running a roadblock in Oklahoma. He has battery and reckless conduct convictions in Illinois. The reckless conduct conviction stemmed from a drive-by shooting in which Harris was the driver. 

Harris was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by Chief United States District Judge C.J. Williams. Harris was sentenced to 160 months’ imprisonment. He was ordered to make $760,575.43 in restitution to the victims. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in federal system. In sentencing Harris to his 160-month prison term, Chief Judge Williams stated that Harris’s crime was sophisticated and constituted a “massive fraud.”

Harris is the latest defendant to plead guilty in the Northern District of Iowa as part of the fraudulent U.S. Treasury check scheme. Other individuals convicted include:

Edgar Stacey Delgado from East Los Angeles, California, was convicted of one count of Forged Endorsement on a U.S. Treasury Check and one count of Aggravated Identity Theft. On Feb. 26, 2025, Delgado was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment and three years of supervised release, and he was also ordered to pay $201,510.69 in restitution.

Irvin Lantern from Chicago, Illinois, was convicted of one count of Forged Endorsement on a U.S. Treasury Check and one count of Aggravated Identity Theft. On Feb. 4, 2025, Lantern was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment and three years of supervised release, and he was also ordered to pay $33,000 in restitution. Lantern has an extensive criminal history in Illinois.

Dale Ford from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was convicted of one count of Forged Endorsement on a U.S. Treasury Check and one count of Aggravated Identity Theft. On March 14, 2025, Ford was sentenced to 36 months’ imprisonment and three years of supervised release, and he was also ordered to pay $91,916 in restitution. Ford had over 30 prior criminal convictions by the time of his federal sentencing hearing.

Tim Dale Howe from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was convicted of one count of Forged Endorsement on a U.S. Treasury Check and one count of Money Laundering Conspiracy. On July 28, 2025, Howe was sentenced to 6 months of imprisonment, 6 months of home confinement, and three years of supervised release, and he was ordered to pay $87,851.37 in restitution. Howe previously was convicted in Florida in 2005 for committing a sex offense against a child.

Cornelius Devon Hicks from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was convicted of one count of Forged Endorsement on a U.S. Treasury Check and one count of Money Laundering. On July 7, 2025, Hicks was sentenced to 41 months’ imprisonment and three years of supervised release, and he was ordered to pay $47,175.65 in restitution. Hicks has an extensive criminal history in Iowa and Tennessee.

Harris is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Timothy L. Vavricek and was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Cedar Rapids Police Department assisted in the investigation.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The core mission of the Fraud Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars. Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 16 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.