Daily printout: June 17

The Postal Service will observe Juneteenth National Independence Day on Friday, June 19.

Juneteenth is the oldest known nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.

The holiday gets its name from the date in 1865 when more than 2,000 federal troops arrived in Galveston, TX, and announced enslaved persons there free by executive decree — more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863.

Enforcement of the proclamation relied heavily on the presence of Union troops, and as the westernmost state in the Confederacy, Texas did not have a strong Union presence. This allowed slavery to retain its grip there long after emancipation was proclaimed.

The first Juneteenth observance took place in 1866, and as those who were formerly enslaved in Texas moved throughout the country, they brought the holiday with them.

Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021.

A former carrier technician in Missouri was recently sentenced to one year in federal prison and ordered to repay nearly $22,000 for stealing checks and selling her arrow key to a criminal organization.

An arrow key — which allows access to USPS collection boxes and cluster boxes — can be used to steal mail.

The carrier technician sold her key to the leader of a crime ring in return for cash and groceries, and she told him which boxes the key would open. She also stole checks from her Post Office and from the mail she was supposed to deliver.

The ringleader paid accomplices to steal mail using the stolen key — targeting checks, credit cards and other valuables that could be altered and fraudulently used. He then recruited other people who allowed him to use their bank accounts to deposit forged and fraudulent checks.

The ringleader posted pictures on social media and an online marketplace showing stacks of cash, stolen driver’s licenses and check-deposit receipts.

Special agents from the Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General, or OIG, teamed with inspectors from the Postal Inspection Service to arrest the carrier, the ringleader and one of the people who purchased some of the stolen goods.

Investigators estimated the total losses to be $1.2 million.

The carrier technician initially lied to investigators when confronted and deleted her messages with the ringleader, but she eventually pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of unlawful use of a mail key.

She was sentenced to a year plus a day in prison and ordered to repay $21,635 in restitution.

The ringleader was sentenced to 42 months in prison after pleading guilty to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

The OIG recently highlighted this case on its website.

If you suspect or know of mail theft involving USPS employees or contractors, report it to the OIG.