ST. PETER — A man was sentenced to prison related to numerous check forgery, mail theft or identity theft charges involving 53 victims mostly from Mankato or St. Peter.
Bee Yang, 44, of Otsego, was convicted on one felony for check forgery, 11 felonies for mail theft, one felony for identity theft and one felony drug possession Tuesday in Nicollet County District Court.
Judge Todd Westphal found Yang guilty on the 14 counts and not guilty on three additional check forgery counts after a bench trial on March 27.
Yang was first charged in March 2023 after investigators found stolen checks from mailboxes in Yang’s possession in St. Peter, according to a criminal complaint.
An investigator noted a check or checks appeared to be altered. Yang reportedly also had a typewriter, chemical agents and more evidence from other victims in his unit.
Police say he claimed the checks belonged to a woman and blamed an electronic transaction made in February on hackers. They also reported he had methamphetamine and meth pipes in his unit as well.
He received a 10-year sentence minus 199 days of credit for time already served, with two-thirds of it to be served in prison at a Minnesota Correctional Facility, according to a sentencing order. Yang was also ordered to pay $1,000 in restitution to each victim, totaling $53,000.