The three men admitted recruiting college-aged individuals to deposit worthless checks in accounts at Citizens. On the morning after the deposit, one of them would escort the account holder to three different Citizens branches, and a check would be cashed at each branch.

The conspirators were able to obtain up to three times the value of the deposited check before the bank could determine that the deposit was worthless.

After the withdrawals, the individual whose account was used was typically paid $1,500, Lambert and D’Anna each kept $1,500, and Dimeo kept the remaining money, typically between $9,000 and $10,000.

The men worked the scheme 53 times between March and November 2005.

The United States Secret Service, the Rhode Island State Police, Providence Police, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the check scheme, making the arrests earlier this year.

D’Anna is scheduled to be sentenced on June 16, Dimeo and Lambert on June 30.

The maximum penalty for conspiracy to commit bank fraud is 30 years in prison and a fine of $1,000,000 or twice the amount gained through the fraud.