“NO FREE SAUCE”!!! BELIEVE IT OR NOT, FEDERAL PROSECUTORS SAY GEORGIA RAPPER JUNEY KNOTZZ OPERATED A FRAUD SCHEME INVOLVING OVER $6.5 MILLION IN STOLEN MAIL CHECKS AND SOLD HOW-TO FRAUD TUTORIALS ONLINE… AND HE WAS SENTENCED TO SIX YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON.
The federal case centered on 34-year-old Shamarri Tache Brooks of Stone Mountain, Georgia.
Brooks is also known publicly as rapper Juney Knotzz.
From at least January 2022 through November 2025, Brooks operated an extensive fraud scheme.
Federal prosecutors said the operation involved thousands of checks stolen directly from the mail.
Brooks and his associates were linked to stolen checks with a combined face value of $6,574,288.
The total face value of the checks involved in the scheme exceeded $6.5 million.
Some of the stolen checks were worth hundreds of thousands of dollars individually.
Among those recovered were checks exceeding $655,000, $405,000 and $122,000.
Federal prosecutors said Brooks used social media to recruit people who already had bank accounts.
He convinced those individuals to allow their accounts to be used for stolen checks.
Brooks then altered the stolen checks prior to deposit.
He altered them to make the cooperating account holders appear to be the intended recipients.
Brooks deposited the altered checks at automated teller machines.
These ATM deposits were carried out throughout the Atlanta area.
Investigators said Brooks frequently wore balaclava-style masks while making the deposits.
The balaclava masks he wore bore the phrase “No Free Sauce.”
Brooks also registered a merchandise company.
Through that company, he sold clothing and masks featuring the “No Free Sauce” branding.
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Authorities said he sometimes posted images of deposit receipts on social media.
Those receipt images were shared after he attempted to negotiate the altered checks.
And Brooks expanded the enterprise by selling tutorials teaching others how to commit various forms of financial fraud.
The collection of tutorials was marketed under the title “Sauce Book.”
Images of stolen checks sold through his fraud business were referred to as “slips.”
When Brooks was arrested, authorities conducted a search of his residence.
Authorities recovered more than 600 stolen checks from the residence.
Yet prosecutors said many of the checks were recovered before they could be negotiated.
Investigators found no evidence that Brooks successfully negotiated the remaining checks.
Authorities reported no known financial loss associated with those negotiation attempts.
Brooks entered the proceedings with a prior criminal history.
His previous convictions included drug trafficking.
He had also been convicted of weapon possession.
His record further included prior convictions for obstruction of law enforcement and battery.
On May 7, 2026, Brooks pleaded guilty in federal court.
He entered guilty pleas to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
On August 27, 2026, Brooks was sentenced in federal court.
He was sentenced to six years in federal prison.
The prison sentence will be followed by five years of supervised release.
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