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Pensacola Man Sentenced to 42 Months in Federal Prison for Bank Fraud and Stolen Identity Scheme
Pensacola resident Vontavius Jamaal Bradley was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison for leading a regional bank fraud and identity theft conspiracy. Bradley and his co-conspirators used counterfeit checks and false passports to defraud local Escambia County financial institutions.
About Vontavius Jamaal Bradley
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PENSACOLA, Fla. — A 23-year-old Pensacola man has been sentenced to federal prison for orchestrating a regional scheme that utilized stolen personal identifying information, counterfeit checks, and fraudulent U.S. passport cards to defraud area financial institutions.
United States Attorney John P. Heekin announced that Vontavius Jamaal Bradley was sentenced on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, in the U.S. District Court in Pensacola to 42 months in federal prison, followed by a term of supervised release. The court also ordered Bradley to pay $18,264 in restitution to the affected financial institutions and individual victims. Bradley previously entered guilty pleas to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, use of a false passport, and aggravated identity theft.
The Bank Fraud Operation
According to federal court records and prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida, Bradley gathered personal identification details from victims without their consent and obtained high-grade counterfeit identification documents, specifically fake U.S. passport cards.
Bradley then supplied these fraudulent identity documents alongside altered and counterfeit checks to his co-conspirators. Members of the ring presented the stolen credentials at several commercial banks and credit unions across the Pensacola metropolitan area to open new checking and savings accounts. Once the counterfeit checks cleared or made funds available, the conspirators rapidly withdrew the money in cash before anti-fraud detection systems flagged the transactions.
Co-Conspirators and Indictment
Bradley was originally charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury alongside two local co-defendants:
- Donny Bernard Ross, 49, of Pensacola
- Elizabeth Ann Rogers, 39, of Pensacola
Federal investigators determined that Ross and Rogers worked alongside Bradley to enter regional financial branches and negotiate counterfeit checks under the stolen identities. The proceeds from the illicit withdrawals were subsequently divided among the participants.
Following their arrests, both Ross and Rogers entered guilty pleas to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, use of a false passport, and aggravated identity theft. Both co-defendants are currently awaiting formal sentencing hearings before U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers at the federal courthouse in Pensacola.
Multi-Agency Law Enforcement Investigation
The dismantling of the identity theft and financial ring resulted from a coordinated investigation across federal and local agencies, including:
- The [suspicious link removed]
- Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)
- The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office
- The U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA)
Assistant United States Attorney Alicia H. Forbes led the prosecution on behalf of the government.
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