Osage Beach woman sentenced to three years in prison after she was found guilty of fraud

Tom Larson, acting United States attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced on Thursday that Chrystal Bernstein, 27, was sentenced in federal court for a scheme to use stolen mail and stolen identities to cash fraudulent checks at area banks.

In May, Bernstein pleased guilty to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft after she admitted to the court that she engaged in a scheme to obtain stolen mail and use stolen identities to cash and deposit checks at several banks.

Bernstein also passed a bad check for $826 at a Columbia business while using a stolen identity.

Bernstein was arrested in February after officers found her to be in possession of a driver’s license, Social Security card and credit card bearing another person’s name.

Weeks later, Bernstein attempted to cash a check at a Central Bank. She was arrested as she returned to her residence, driving a car with a license plate that was reported stolen.

Police searched the car and found checks and money orders in the trunk that had been stolen from two victims.

Bernstein was sentenced to three years in federal prison without parole and ordered to pay $13,101 in restitution to her victims.