(WNY News Now) – A 44-year-old Long Island woman has been sentenced to 36 months in federal prison for conspiring to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft after using counterfeit identification cards to access victims’ financial accounts, including an incident at a Fredonia bank.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Jennifer Poliandro, 44, of Wyandanch, New York, has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for her role in a bank fraud and identity theft scheme involving counterfeit military identification cards and U.S. passport cards, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.

U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara imposed the sentence after Poliandro was convicted of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

According to federal prosecutors, Poliandro and others carried out the scheme between February 18 and February 26, 2026. The group allegedly obtained victims’ personal identifying information from the internet and used it to create counterfeit military identification cards and U.S. passport cards.

The fraudulent documents were then used to obtain, or attempt to obtain, money from banks in Western New York.

On February 18, Poliandro went to a Lake Shore Bank branch in Fredonia, where she used a counterfeit military identification card bearing the name of a Jamestown resident to withdraw $7,800 from a home equity line of credit account belonging to that individual.

Federal officials estimated the scheme’s total actual and intended losses at between $15,000 and $40,000.

The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Franz M. Wright prosecuted the case.