MACON, Ga. — A federal grand jury indicted a man for allegedly stealing checks worth thousands of dollars from Macon mailboxes, according to a federal indictment handed down on Wednesday.
The indictment accuses Keyon Ponder of not only stealing the checks but also selling them using the online communication app Telegram.
According to the indictment, Ponder had stolen two checks totaling nearly $5,000 from the Allman Brother's Big House Foundation, a $2,309 check from the Houston County Clerk of Superior Court and two checks worth $16,000 from a Macon business.
All told, the six checks specifically mentioned in the indictment were worth just under $30,000. However, the indictment accuses him of having photos of more than 500 stolen checks on his cell phone on May 31, 2024.
Prosecutors accuse Ponder of running a "channel" for his "grab and sell" scheme under the username "HandyMan Grub." They say he would take photographs of the checks, post them to the channel and advertise them for sale.
Some of the checks were stolen from an outdoor USPS Box at the Georgia Avenue post office in downtown Macon, the indictment says.
The buyer would then deposit the checks even though they weren't the payees.
The Big House checks were posted on the channel on May 16. Two checks stolen in Macon were posted on the Telegram channel on May 15, and one of them was cashed by someone who wasn't the payee.
The indictment includes conversations with people looking to buy "glass" or "slips," which are slang for stolen checks.
Ponder was indicted on conspiracy to commit wire fraud, possession of stolen mail and bank fraud, the indictment says.
