Date: Dec. 6, 2024 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov MISSOULA — An Illinois man who admitted to attempting to defraud financial institutions in Bozeman in a scheme using stolen identities and stolen U.S. Treasury checks was sentenced today to five years and five months in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said. The defendant, Dyonte Scott of Chicago, Illinois, pleaded guilty in July to bank fraud, possession of stolen U.S. Treasury check and aggravated identity theft. U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy presided. “Sophisticated bank fraud schemes, like the one attempted by Scott and his codefendant, Lorenzo Botello, harm multiple victims—banks, which are targeted for money; private citizens whose personal information is stolen and used; and the federal government through taxpayer-funded U.S. Treasury checks. This multi-state scheme ended in Montana due to the outstanding work of our law enforcement partners and prosecution team,” U.S. Attorney Laslovich said. “The sentencing of Scott and Botello, who possessed stolen Treasury checks and attempted to deposit the illicit funds, should serve as a resounding message to others who attempt to steal from the federal government,” said Tom Demeo, Acting Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Denver Field Office. “IRS-CI is thankful for the great relationship we have with our local law enforcement partners in Montana and will diligently combat financial crimes that victimize the American public.” In court documents, the government alleged that on Jan. 26, law enforcement caught co-defendant Botello, of Las Vegas, Nevada, at a financial institution in Bozeman. Botello had documents that were fraudulently using the identity of a person identified as John Doe. After arresting Botello, law enforcement reviewed his phone and found text messages between Scott and Botello showing that Scott was directing Botello how to lie to the financial institutions to perpetuate a U.S. Treasury check scheme. Scott directed Botello on what to say, what documents to use, what email addresses to provide and the bank location to target. In one text message, Scott told Botello: “Lmk [how] everything goes[.] I’m right here with u the whole time.” After opening the accounts, Scott and Botello were then planning on returning to deposit a real, but stolen, U.S. Treasury check totaling almost $1 million. When caught, Scott was carrying a stolen U.S. Treasury check for almost $1 million. Scott tore up the check in front of law enforcement. While in jail, Scott also directed others to delete evidence to obstruct the investigation. The scheme involved a coordinated network of individuals who traveled throughout the United States attempting to cash million-dollar U.S. Treasury checks with banks. Botello was sentenced in October to 16 months in federal prison for his conviction in the case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case. The IRS Criminal Investigation, Bozeman Police Department and Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation. IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.
