ST. LOUIS – Four people linked to stolen mail in St. Charles and Warren counties have pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges.
Two guilty pleas came earlier this week. The four defendants include…
- Elijah Briggs, 42
- Jessica Kirkpatrick, 44
- Reuben Kim, 36
- Holly Naylor, 41
All four have pleaded guilty to two counts of bank fraud. Briggs also admitted to another count of bank fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, offenses date back to 2019. Briggs admitted to stealing mail from homes, specifically mail with blank checks, while working as a contractor.
At some point, Briggs was caught with stolen mail belonging to dozens of people, which included more than 30 stolen debit or credit cards and over 100 checks in the names of others. Investigators say the total dollar amount on the stolen or fraudulent checks surpassed $116,000. Briggs also had a notebook containing the names and personally identifiable information of several people.
In October 2021, St. Charles officers found Briggs in possession of drugs, blank check paper and stolen or fraudulent checks that totaled $40,000 during a traffic stop.
Authorities also learned that Briggs created fraudulent checks that Kirkpatrick, Naylor and Kim later deposited. All three pleaded guilty to cashing in fraudulent checks that Briggs created.
Briggs, Kirkpatrick, Naylor and Kim all face up to 30 years in prison on each bank fraud charge.
The Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated this case, along with authorities in St. Charles and Warren counties.