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FAYETTEVILLE – A New Orleans, La., man was sentenced today to 70 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $19,222.00 in restitution to the victims on one count of Wire Fraud. The Honorable Judge Timothy L. Brooks presided over the sentencing hearing in the United States District Court in Fayetteville.

According to court documents, on November 5, 2020, Wilbert Adam Theodore, III, age 52, was arrested for forgery in connection with his possession of a stolen U-Haul van at a hotel in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It was determined that he had been using a stolen identity to rent the hotel room and van. In the hotel room, he was found to be in possession of various items used to conduct check fraud, including: three hundred forged checks, over one hundred forged driver’s licenses with the defendant’s photo, a notebook with a list of real social security numbers, and multiple receipts of wire transfers conduct at Walmart.

A subsequent investigation determined that Theodore was a suspect in an ongoing investigation into fraudulent wire transfers conducted at various Walmart locations in Arkansas and other states. Theodore had been using the forged identification cards and the social security numbers of several stolen identities to pass the checks. On November 3, 2020, video surveillance showed Theodore cashing a check for $600 at a Walmart in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

U.S. Attorney David Clay Fowlkes of the Western District of Arkansas made the announcement.

The United States Secret Service and Fayetteville Police Department investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sydney Butler prosecuted the case for the United States.