York County Sheriff’s Department seizes $222,000 in stolen checks

YORK – The York County Sheriff’s Department has seized $222,000 in stolen checks, which appeared to have been diverted from the postal service, during a traffic stop on Interstate 80. 

​According to Sgt. Taylor Samek with the YSO, on Saturday, at 12:04 a.m., “a deputy with the York County Sheriff’s Department conducted a traffic stop on Interstate 80 near mile marker 345 for speeding. During the course of the traffic stop, the deputy obtained probable cause to search the vehicle. The search uncovered 392 personal checks; 1,310 blank checks; and fraudulent identification documents. The checks located in the vehicle appeared to have been diverted from the United States Postal Service and stolen from the account owners. Through further investigation, it appears there were 294 different account holders from six different states affected and the total sum of all the checks was just over $222,000.”
The suspect in the case, William Stewart, 34, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was arrested and lodged at the York County Jail on the following charges:

• Criminal possession of a financial transaction device
• Theft by receiving stolen property
• Possession of a financial transaction forgery device
• Identity theft
• Possession of less than one ounce of marijuana
• Possession of drug paraphernalia
• Speeding

This case is still under investigation and is being investigated in conjunction with the United States Postal Inspection Service.