U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis sentenced Tianna Cosby, aka “Mendoza,” 24, of Prince George’s County, Maryland, to 114 months in federal prison.
In October 2024, Cosby pled guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the sentencing with Postal Inspector in Charge Damon E. Wood, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) – Washington Division; Special Agent in Charge Kathleen Woodson, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG) – Mid Atlantic Field Office; and Chief Malik Aziz, Prince George’s County Police Department.
According to the guilty plea, beginning in March 2021, and continuing through at least August 2021, Cosby conspired with
- Marche Sisco, age 26, of Suitland, Maryland
- Tommi Cosby, age 21, of District Heights, Maryland
- Biniah Carter, age 24, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland
- Zion Oluwademilade Adeduwon, age 22, of Bowie, Maryland
Cosby conspired with the four subjects in a wide-ranging fraud conspiracy. Co-conspirators defrauded financial institutions by stealing checks from the mail, altering and falsifying those checks, and then depositing the altered checks with financial institutions.
The conspiracy victimized more than 900 individuals, stealing more than 700 checks, totaling a face value of more than $5 million
Tianna Cosby, the leader of the conspiracy, acquired checks by stealing them from USPS collection boxes or receiving them from Sisco, who stole checks from the Washington Network Distribution Center (NDC), located in Capitol Heights, Maryland. The NDC was a USPS facility responsible for sorting and distributing mail from across the United States.
After the checks were procured, Tianna Cosby, Tommi Cosby, Sisco, Carter, and Adeduwon recruited and caused the recruitment of account mules; collected banking information and the account mules’ identification; transferred and exchanged the banking information and the account mules’ identification; and used, transferred, and possessed the identity theft victims’ identification.
The co-conspirators also altered personal and business checks to reflect payments to account mules; deposited altered and fraudulent checks into bank accounts belonging to account mules; and obtained proceeds from altered and fraudulent checks by engaging in various monetary transactions to withdraw the proceeds, including through ATM cash withdrawals and peer-to-peer financial transfers.
Tianna Cosby then laundered the fraud proceeds by having them sent to intermediary bank accounts that the co-conspirators controlled, allowing her to conceal the nature, source, and destination of the fraud proceeds.
The lead conspirator then had the money transferred to business accounts she controlled, including a Bank of America account in the name of “Santos Detailing,” and a Bank of America account in the name of “Spectrum Dynamics.”
Both Santos Detailing and Spectrum Dynamics were shell companies that Tianna Cosby opened for the purpose of laundering fraud proceeds.
On January 19, 2024, law enforcement executed a search warrant of Tianna Cosby’s residence in Woodbridge, Virginia.
Inside the residence, authorities recovered 27 designer handbags and 14 pieces of jewelry, including rings, necklaces, bracelets, brooches, and a wristwatch. The jewelry and the designer handbags were purchased with proceeds from the fraud scheme.
The jewelry and designer handbags were subsequently professionally appraised and had a combined fair-market value of approximately $137,555, consisting of approximately $113,065 in designer handbags and approximately $24,490 in jewelry.
Additionally, law enforcement located a BMW i8, which Tianna Cosby had purchased for $114,296.02.
Inside the BMW i8, law enforcement recovered a Louis Vuitton bag containing 151 checks stolen from the mail, totaling approximately $610,788.08. The checks belonged to victims from across the country.
U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the USPIS, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, and the Prince George’s Police Department Strategic Investigations Division – Financial Crimes Unit for their work in the investigation. Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bijon A. Mostoufi, Ranganath Manthripragada, Elizabeth G. Wright, and John D’Amico, who prosecuted the federal case, and Paralegal Specialist Joanna B.N. Huber, who supported the case.
If you have questions about this case, contact the Mega Victim Case Assistance Program (MCAP) toll free 1-(844) 527-5299 (Monday through Friday from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm Eastern), or send an email to [email protected].
For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to report fraud, visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/report-fraud.
