Guilford PD Assists In Bank Fraud, Identity, Mail Theft Investigation

GUILFORD, CT – Guilford Police Department, along with U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Secret Service, and other state police departments, investigated mail theft, identity theft, and bank fraud leading to the sentencing of a New Haven Man.

Vanessa Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Marquis Williams, 46, of New Haven, was sentenced on Tuesday, April 25, by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Brian in Hartford to 78 months of imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release for operating a mail theft, identity theft and bank fraud scheme.

During the investigation, more than 70 bank fraud victims were identified.

Judge Bryant ordered Williams to pay $116,152.26 in restitution to his victims.

From 2018 through November 2019, Williams and his then-girlfriend, Dara Morrison, stole mail from hundreds of residential mailboxes in Connecticut.

Williams pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud on May 19, 2023.

Morrison pleaded guilty to the same offense on April 18, 2023, after Morrison had been detained for about 37 months. Judge Bryant sentenced her to time served.

The mail pieces contained checks, driver’s licenses, passports, social security cards, banking information and other personally identifying information from businesses and individuals throughout Connecticut, including nursing home residents.

Williams and Morrison used stolen identities to produce fake identification and then used the fake identification to cash or deposit stolen checks. Then, they used those stolen checks to create additional forged copies of checks, which they would cash or deposit into accounts they opened using the stolen identities.

Morrison also used and attempted to use stolen credit cards.

Other police departments who helped with the investigation were Hamden, Wallingford, Waterford and Old Saybrook.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amanda Oakes and Hal Chen prosecuted the case.