Kinmundy Man Gets Federal Prison Sentence for Bank Fraud

75-year-old Alfred L. Cross, a former Mattoon resident, has been sentenced to 6-1/2 years in prison. Cross was convicted earlier this year on five counts of bank fraud. Southern Illinois District US Attorney Steven Weinhoeft said evidence presented in court established that Cross defrauded seven southern Illinois banks out of more than $500,000.

Cross pleaded guilty to the charges on March 16. The case charged that Cross opened checking accounts at Midland States Bank and at Washington Savings Bank, both in Effingham. He also opened accounts of Bradford National Bank in Greenville, Community First Bank of the Heartland in Mt. Vernon, the Farmers and Merchants National Bank in Nashville, First Southern Bank in Carbondale, and State Bank of Whittington in Benton.

After the accounts had been open for a short period of time, Cross deposited into each of the accounts very large checks, ranging from $18,875 to $148,000. These checks were drawn on out-of-state bank accounts in the names of businesses that Cross controlled. At the time he deposited these checks, Cross knew there were insufficient funds in the out-of-state accounts to cover the checks. Before the checks could be returned for non-sufficient funds, Cross withdrew almost all of the funds he had deposited. Cross gave some of the funds to his relatives and used the remainder to pay for personal expenses.

Officials say Cross conducted his fraud scheme from April 14, 2011 through March 25, 2015.

At sentencing, Cross asked the Court to impose a lenient sentence, due to his advanced age and medical conditions. The Court indicated that other factors warranted a sentence of significant prison time. Noting that Cross had 16 prior convictions, many of which were for similar conduct, the Court was "not confident he can be deterred" from future criminal conduct. The Court observed that Cross is "a con artist, plain and simple" who "supports himself by ripping people off."

In addition to the 6-1/2 year prison sentence, the Court ordered Cross to serve a five-year period of supervised release and pay restitution of $111,698.98 to two of the banks he defrauded. Restitution was not ordered for the banks that obtained judgments against Cross and/or had recovered funds they were owed by other means.

In commenting on the sentence, Weinhoeft said, "Cross may have conned several banks, but he couldn't game the federal justice system. These criminals will not avoid lengthy prison sentences by pointing to their age, medical issues, or other excuses to escape responsibility for their crimes. Our office will continue to seek significant prison times for financial criminals who rip off businesses and other individuals."