A Goodyear man was sentenced to nine years in federal prison Tuesday for his role in a scheme that involved stealing and cashing nearly $8.5 million in checks intended for legitimate businesses.

Cory Jermaine White Jr. was sentenced to 108 months in prison and ordered to pay $8,446,858.31 in restitution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona. He pleaded guilty in December 2024 to conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Six co-defendants previously pleaded guilty in connection to the case and received varying prison sentences.

According to court records, White and his co-conspirators carried out a multi-step scheme to steal business checks from the U.S. Mail and deposit them into fraudulent accounts. Prosecutors said the group registered sham companies using the names of real businesses to match the intended recipients of the stolen checks. The fraudulent companies were often incorporated in different states to avoid detection.

The group then opened bank accounts under the sham business names and deposited the stolen checks, quickly withdrawing and splitting the money among themselves, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI Phoenix Division. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin M. Rapp.

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