Sep 11, 2019 2 min read

A Florida man pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to his role in a scheme targeting Citizens Bank customers in Peters Township that tied him to the theft of more than $100,000.

Cassio Orville Donald Slowden, 27, of Pembroke Pines pleaded guilty to a felony count of theft of mail before U.S. District Judge Arthur Schwab, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady.

Slowden was initially arrested on state charges Feb. 11 by Peters police after he was caught under surveillance stealing mail from a Citizens Bank customer on Will Scarlett Drive. The stolen mail was quickly recovered in a traffic stop assisted by federal investigators.

Police said the ring was operating in the northeastern United States, using its members to place calls to the bank’s customer service department and impersonate its customers.

The callers requested new banking cards and PINs be mailed to the real customers at their home addresses. They also signed up for notifications as to when the cards would be delivered in order to steal them from mailboxes, court records show. The ring was suspected of stealing more than $500,000 from Citizens and other financial institutions.

Slowden pleaded guilty to stealing $116,277 from a dozen customers from Peters using their fraudulently obtained banking card, Brady’s office said. It was not immediately known Tuesday if others had been indicted in the case.

He was scheduled for sentencing at 10 a.m. Jan. 28 before Schwab, who could send him to prison for up to five years, federal records show.