New Gloucester man sentenced for presenting counterfeit Treasury checks and wire fraud

Date: Sept. 1, 2026

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

Portland, ME – A New Gloucester man was sentenced on Aug. 31, 2026, in U.S. District Court in Portland for passing counterfeit U.S. Treasury checks and wire fraud.

Chief U.S. District Judge Lance E. Walker sentenced Keith Mitchell to 30 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Mitchell was also ordered to pay $104,464 in restitution. Mitchell pleaded guilty on Feb. 5, 2026. In addition, Mitchell was on supervised release for a federal drug conviction when he deposited counterfeit checks. His term of supervised release was revoked, and he was sentenced to 21months in prison, to be served consecutively. 

According to court records and statements made in court, Mitchell deposited 13 counterfeit U.S. Treasury checks totaling $83,632 into his bank account from April through June 2024. The checks contained the serial numbers and amounts of actual U.S. Treasury checks that had been issued to third parties but were counterfeited to be made payable to Mitchell. In May 2021, Mitchell also received $20,832 in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds based on a fraudulent PPP loan application. The application falsely claimed that Mitchell owned a sole proprietorship business that had earned gross revenue of $100,000 in 2020. Mitchell also submitted a falsified tax return in support of the application. 

IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case.

Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was a COVID-19 pandemic relief program administered by the SBA that provided forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses. The PPP permitted participating third-party lenders to approve and disburse SBA-backed PPP loans to cover payroll, fixed debts, utilities, rent/mortgage, accounts payable and other bills incurred by qualifying businesses during, and resulting from, the COVID-19 pandemic. PPP loans were fully guaranteed by the SBA.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (“Fraud Division”). The Fraud Division is investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports 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.