Montgomery woman sentenced for conspiracy involving stolen mail and bank fraud

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WAKA) – A Montgomery woman has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for conspiracy involving stolen mail and bank fraud.

Acting U.S. Attorney Kevin Davidson said 37-year-old Rhashema Shackleford played a role in a mail theft and bank fraud scheme that resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent deposits.

On April 1, a federal judge sentenced Shackleford to 10 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. In addition, the court entered a money judgment against Shackleford in the amount of $376,679.95.

According to her plea agreement and other court records, from August 2022 through June 2023, Shackleford participated in a scheme with multiple co-conspirators to steal mail and use stolen checks to commit bank fraud in Montgomery. Shackleford worked with others, including 32-year-old Laportia Webster and 48-year-old Otis Daniels, to obtain checks from the mail, alter them or use them to create counterfeit checks for deposit into various bank accounts.

Prosecutors say that as part of the scheme, between August 26, 2022, and January 20, 2023, Shackleford conspired with Webster to use Webster’s bank accounts to conduct approximately $114,311.50 in fraudulent deposits. Additionally, between December 29, 2022, and February 7, 2023, Shackleford worked with Daniels to use his accounts for approximately $264,368.16 in fraudulent deposits and withdrawals. As a result of these transactions, Shackleford obtained and cashed three cashier’s checks totaling $64,000.

The investigation further revealed that on March 31, 2023, Shackleford fraudulently deposited a check in the amount of $12,480.29 drawn on the account of a business victim, prosecutors say. On June 16, 2023, agents executed a search at Shackleford’s residence in Montgomery, where they discovered stolen checks, identification documents and other materials used to facilitate fraud, they say.

Shackleford pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank and mail fraud on September 18, 2025. Daniels was previously sentenced to 27 months in prison for his role in the scheme. A sentencing hearing for Webster is scheduled on April 15.

— Information from the Office of the U.S. Attorney, Middle District of Alabama