By Mitch Hotts
Voice News, New Baltimore, Mich.
(TNS)
Out on bond no more.
That may be the next lyric Jaiswan Williams, also known as Detroit rapper Jaiswan, may be writing for his next rap tune.
Williams, 32, of Rochester Hills, MI, was sentenced this week in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan to just over 10 years in prison for his role in a $63 million scheme, according to U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon Jr.
Federal prosecutors described Williams as the ringleader of a four-person crew that stole checks from the mail and sold them online.
“The stealing of checks is not a victimless crime,” said Special Agent in Charge Karen Wingerd of the Detroit Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations. “The stolen checks belonged to citizens, to help them make payments for vital services or help through a tough time.”
Williams was the last of four defendants to be sentenced the mail scheme.
Co-defendants Daquan Foreman, 32, of Eastpointe, Vanessa Hargrove, 40, of Detroit, and Crystal Jenkins, 32, of Detroit, were all previously sentenced, as follows:
- Foreman received 48 months in prison;
- Hargrove: 12 months and 1 day; and
- Jenkins: 1 day in custody, followed by 3 years’ supervised release.
All four were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Judith E. Levy.
Hargrove and Jenkins were employees of the United States Postal Service who “diverted and ultimately stole checks and other negotiable instruments” from the mail, including a large number of tax refund checks issued by the U.S. Treasury.
Williams and Foreman were the administrators of the online marketplaces used to sell the checks investigators said in the release.
Earlier this year, Williams pleaded guilty to conspiracy to aid and abet bank and wire fraud, as well as money laundering.
While he was released on bond pending the sentencing, Williams released a single and music video titled “Out On Bond” in February. The video depicted him dressed in jail attire rapping in front of the court’s seal.
Federal prosecutors said his sentence also reflected a conviction for money laundering activities dating back to October 2022. In addition, he accepted responsibility for $1.5M in fraudulent pandemic unemployment insurance benefit claims he submitted between August and December 2020, using the personally identifiable information (PII) of dozens of individuals.
“Jaiswan Williams exploited his platform as a rapper, using his celebrity status to rip off American taxpayers. These criminal acts will not be tolerated. We remain relentless in this war on fraud and will ensure every fraudster that attempts to undermine the American people receives their prison sentence,” said Anthony D’Esposito, inspector general of the U.S. Department of Labor.
In the mail scheme, court records show Hargrove and Jenkins would provide the stolen checks to Williams and Foreman in exchange for payments. They would take the checks and market them for sale via Telegram Messenger, a cloud-based, cross-platform instant messaging application. Prices varied based on the face-value of the checks.
One of the Telegram channels, named “Whole Foods Slipsss,” was used to advertise high-dollar checks, while another channel, named “Uber Eats Slips,” was used to advertise lower-dollar checks, according to prosecutors. “Slips” is a term commonly used in these schemes to refer to stolen checks.
Transactions were completed off-platform using a variety of electronic payment systems. Purchasers of the checks would then attempt to fraudulently cash them using a variety of methods. The investigation revealed the two Telegram channels marketed more than 10,000 individual checks for sale, with a combined face value of more than $63 million.
The multi-agency investigation was led by the U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General, with the assistance of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration; and the Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General.
Photo credit: Jaiswan TV/YouTube
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© 2026 Voice News, New Baltimore, Mich. Visit www.voicenews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC.
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