FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) — Five Fresno residents have pleaded guilty in a yearlong bank fraud scheme that involved stolen checks worth more than $1 million, federal prosecutors said.

U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced the guilty pleas, which include Zorian Temple, 25, who pleaded guilty to bank fraud today. Davonntae Barfield, 31, Zion Brewer, 40, and Nyric Hinton, 28, pleaded guilty on Aug. 17, 2026. Harry Cooper Neal, 30, pleaded guilty on Aug. 31, 2026.

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According to court records, the scheme ran from 2022 to 2023 and began with Brewer, a U.S. Postal Service employee, stealing checks from the mail and giving them to the other defendants. Prosecutors said the others then recruited bank account holders, or used their own bank accounts, to deposit the stolen checks and withdraw the proceeds.

The defendants primarily met and coordinated through Facebook and Facebook Messenger.

In total, the stolen checks had a face value of more than $1 million. The actual loss to the banks was a few hundred thousand dollars because banks detected most of the stolen checks and stopped payment before the defendants could withdraw the funds.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, and the Fresno Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Barton is prosecuting.

U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston is scheduled to sentence Neal on Nov. 30, 2026; Barfield, Brewer and Hinton on Dec. 7, 2026; and Temple on Jan. 11, 2027.

All five defendants face a maximum statutory penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million.