ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — A metro Atlanta rapper was sentenced to six years in federal prison for running a scheme that involved $6.5 million in stolen checks and online “fraud tutorials,” prosecutors announced Monday.
Shamarri Brooks, also known as Juney Knotzz, stole checks from the mail, then used social media to recruit others to let him deposit the checks into their accounts, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia.
Prosecutors said Brooks altered the stolen checks to list the account holders as the intended recipients, then deposited them at ATMs around metro Atlanta, often wearing balaclava-style masks with the words “No Free Sauce.”
Juney Knotzz(U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia)
Brooks also sold online “fraud tutorials” teaching how to commit check fraud and other forms of financial fraud, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
He reportedly sold a collection of the tutorials under the name “Sauce Book” or “SB.” He also sold images of stolen checks, referred to as “slips,” as part of the fraud business.
Prosecutors said Brooks and his associates stole $6,574,288 worth of checks, but law enforcement recovered many of those checks from Brooks’ home, and there is no evidence that he successfully cashed, deposited or transferred the remaining checks, meaning there was no known loss to the victims.
Brooks ran the scheme from at least January 2022 through November 2025, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
On May 7, Brooks, 34, of Stone Mountain, pleaded guilty to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. On Aug. 27, he was sentenced to six years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release.
Prosecutors said Brooks had a lengthy criminal history predating the fraud scheme, including convictions for drug trafficking, weapon possession, obstruction of law enforcement and battery.
“In addition to personally committing bank fraud, Brooks brazenly marketed and sold fraud tutorials and trafficked thousands of stolen checks worth millions of dollars. Thankfully, Brooks’s ineptitude matched his boldness—his efforts to negotiate the checks failed, sparing his victims from any known loss,” U.S. Attorney Theodore Hertzberg said in a statement. “Although Brooks sought to teach his followers how to commit fraud, the real lesson here is that crime does not pay. We will catch you, and you will go to prison—even if your scheme is unsuccessful.”
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