A Washington, DC, mail carrier has been sentenced to more than five years in prison for stealing more than $1.6 million in personal and U.S. Treasury checks from the mail.
This case began when a customer filed a complaint with the USPS Office of Inspector General, also known as the OIG, alleging that his carrier had stolen his $14,000 IRS tax refund check and then fraudulently cashed it.
OIG special agents opened an investigation into the matter. They discovered this was not a one-time heist but rather a well-networked criminal enterprise spanning 40 different Washington, DC, mail routes and involving nearly 100 stolen checks.
Many of the checks were federal tax refunds, so the special agents reached out to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration as well as the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia.
Investigators learned that the carrier had fraudulently deposited the checks, which he either altered or falsely endorsed, into his bank accounts. During some of these bank visits, he was wearing his Postal Service uniform.
The carrier spent large amounts of his ill-gotten gains to fund international travel, luxury hotel stays and visits to strip clubs, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
After investigators searched the carrier’s home, digital records and bank accounts, they estimated the total value of the stolen checks to be more than $1.6 million.
Investigators also discovered that he paid thousands of dollars to at least two USPS co-workers to conspire with him.
OIG special agents arrested the carrier, and the Justice Department indicted him on 21 criminal charges — including mail theft and bank fraud. A federal jury found him guilty on all 21 counts.
He was sentenced to five and a half years in federal prison and ordered to forfeit the money that agents seized during the investigation.
Cases are still pending on his alleged accomplices.
“This investigation should serve as a warning to any postal employee who thinks they will get away with stealing checks from the mail as a side hustle,” said Tammy Hull, the Postal Service’s inspector general. “You will be caught and prosecuted.”
The OIG recently highlighted the case on its website.
If you suspect or know of mail theft involving USPS employees or contractors, report it to the OIG.
