The four people found guilty of stealing checks from the mail will be sentenced later this summer. The federal case alleged the suspects, including a former postal employee in St. Louis, conspired to steal checks and then change them to make deposits between January 2022 and September 2023.
The four Missouri residents who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal checks and bank fraud are 29-year-old Johnathan Barnett of University City, 29-year-old Wynter Hinton of St. Ann, 24-year-old Ryan McKinney of St. Louis, and 21-year-old Jayden Burklow of O’Fallon, Illinois. Prosecutors claim Barnett purchased a key to a US Mail collection box from Hinton, a mail carrier. Barnett, Burklow, and McKinney were accused of unlocking mailboxes in St. Louis County and stealing checks, while Hinton was accused of stealing mail while on her postal route. According to authorities, Barnett, Burklow, and McKinney persuaded others to use their bank accounts to deposit the phony checks, then took the money before the banks discovered the checks were fake.
