Georgia Man Sentenced For Spending $31,000 Bank Error Deposit

An 18-year-old man from Madison County has been convicted of spending part of a check that a bank mistakenly deposited into his account. According to ABC7, the bank deposited $31,000 into Steven Fields' account, but it was meant to go to a 70-year-old man that lived in the same area. The intended recipient had the same name and was also from Hull. Instead of depositing the money into 70-year-old Steven Fields' account, the he bank teller deposited the lump sum into 18-year-old Steven Fields' account.

Upon receiving the money, the 18-year-old withdrew $20,000 and spent $5,000 via ATM card. In the span of 24 hours, he purchased a BMW convertible and spent the rest of the money on food and at convenience stores. The following day, Fields tried to take out more of the money but the bank had already noticed their error. ABC7 detailed a police report in which bank staff notified 18-year-old Fields of the mistake before calling the police.

"I informed Mr. Fields that the bank wanted the money back as soon as possible. Mr. Fields stated that he would go to the bank and talk with Mrs. Bryant and try to settle this situation without going to jail," the report said.

ABC7 mentioned that Fields was sentenced to 10 years of probation as a result of spending a portion of the misplaced check, and must pay restitution to the other Steven Fields.