Postal worker stole packages worth $50,000 over seven years in California, feds say

A postal employee accused of stealing packages worth $50,000 from a California post office is facing possible prison time, according to federal prosecutors.

The man waived an indictment and pleaded guilty to theft of mail by a postal service employee on May 20, court documents show.

In his plea agreement, the 34-year-old Visalia resident admitted to stealing packages over the span of seven years while working at the Tulare Main Post Office, about a 45-mile drive southeast from Fresno.

His defense attorneys didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on May 22.

On Oct. 19, the man stole a package from the post office, believing marijuana was inside the parcel, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California said in a May 21 news release announcing his guilty plea.

He was caught putting the box in his car because he wanted to sell the suspected cannabis, his plea agreement says.

“Narcotics and theft offenses committed by Postal Service personnel are completely unacceptable,” Christopher Paige, the deputy special agent-in-charge of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General’s Western Pacific Area Field Office, said in the release.

The man faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to prosecutors. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Sept. 9.

In April, a former U.S. Post Office manager pleaded guilty in connection with stealing packages containing drugs, including marijuana, out of the mail stream over the course of four years, according to prosecutors, McClatchy News previously reported.

The man, who worked at a post office in Greece, New York, faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and up to 40 years in prison, as well as a $5 million fine, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York said in an April 23 news release.

Suspected mail theft can be reported over the USPS Office of Inspector General hotline at 1-888-877-7644, online or over email at Hotline@uspsoig.gov. Tips can also be mailed to USPS OIG, Attn: OIG Hotline, 1735 North Lynn Street, Arlington, Virginia, 22209-2020.

This story was originally published May 22, 2024 at 10:33 AM with the headline "Postal worker stole packages worth $50,000 over seven years in California, feds say."

Julia Marnin

McClatchy DC

Julia Marnin covers courts for McClatchy News, writing about criminal and civil affairs, including cases involving policing, corrections, civil liberties, fraud, and abuses of power. As a reporter on McClatchy’s National Real-Time Team, she’s also covered the COVID-19 pandemic and a variety of other topics since joining in 2021, following a fellowship with Newsweek. Born in Biloxi, Mississippi, she was raised in South Jersey and is now based in New York State.