ST. LOUIS • Four members of a six-person group who traveled throughout St. Louis County breaking into cars at fitness centers and parks were sentenced Thursday to federal prison or probation.

One of the leaders, Melvin Brooks, 28, of the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., area, was sentenced to six years by U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber.

Brooks and another person recruited people in the Fort Lauderdale and Nashville, Tenn., areas to travel the country and execute the scheme, which worked this way: Someone would break into vehicles and steal IDs, checks and credit cards. Then, the group's members would cash the stolen checks in bank drive-through windows, using another vehicle to block tellers from being able to compare the picture on the stolen ID with the person attempting to use it.

The group broke into cars in Chesterfield, Town and Country, Clayton, Des Peres, Olivette, Webster Groves and Brentwood, prosecutors say.

Brooks and others broke into the vehicles, according to prosecutors. Keith Lee, 25, who watched over the check cashers, was sentenced to 32 months in prison. Kathryn Stephens, 18, and Ida Horton, 20, who cashed the checks, received five years and three years' probation, respectively. Prosecutors say they were the "least culpable" of the group.

Two other check cashers will be sentenced next month.