“Postal employees perform an essential public service in every community,” said U.S. Attorney Wall. “They deserve to carry out their duties free from threats, intimidation, and violence.  While we are pleased with this conviction, the defendant’s actions are inexcusable and warranted an even harsher sentence. When a federal employee is assaulted while serving the public, this office will aggressively prosecute those responsible and seek sentences that reflect the seriousness of those crimes.”

On April 15, 2025, a United States Postal Service rural letter carrier was delivering mail and packages at an apartment complex in Livingston Parish when Gaspard confronted her over packages that had not yet been delivered. The evidence at trial established that what began as a verbal dispute quickly escalated into a violent assault.

Witnesses testified that Gaspard repeatedly confronted the mail carrier as she attempted to continue performing her delivery duties. During the encounter, Gaspard directed racially charged insults at the mail carrier, followed her through the apartment complex, physically grabbed her by the neck, and assaulted her for more than a minute, eventually lifting her and slamming her to the ground. The assault ended only after another resident intervened to help the mail carrier escape.

Gaspard was found guilty of this crime after a three-day jury trial in March 2026.

During sentencing, the Court also considered a victim impact statement submitted by the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association on behalf of approximately 130,000 rural letter carriers nationwide. The Association explained that violence against postal employees extends beyond the individual victim, undermining the safety of postal workers across the country and threatening the public’s ability to receive reliable mail service. The Association urged the Court to impose a sentence that reflected the seriousness of the offense, recognized the physical and emotional harm inflicted on the mail carrier, and deterred future acts of violence against postal employees performing their official duties.

U.S. Attorney Kurt L. Wall praised the work of the United States Postal Inspection Service and Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jamie A. Flowers, Jr. and Ellison C. Travis led the prosecution.

Except the two men weren’t alone. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was listening. 

The FBI brought this complaint to our Office of Investigations. Our special agents stationed in Puerto Rico went to work with their partners to set up a sting operation at the post office where the employee worked and had access to an endless supply of incoming mail. 

During the operation, investigators saw the retail clerk remove a Priority Mail package from his station and set it apart. He waited some time for the pick-up to arrive, poking his head three times through a service door to make sure he hadn’t missed the man. When the person finally arrived, he handed the package to him. To avoid suspicion, he met up with him at an outside location days later to receive payment. 

Investigators intercepted the package and a K-9 officer signaled it likely contained narcotics. A test at the FBI lab proved the package held two bricks weighing over 2 kg. of cocaine — the white powder or “blanca” the employee knew to look for. 

After more evidence of the drug trafficking scheme was collected, our special agents and their partners arrested the employee. During a subsequent interview, they learned the employee had been breaking the law well into his 10-year career at one of the nation’s most trusted government agencies. Over time, he learned to visually and physically profile parcels suspected of containing illegal narcotics. It didn’t take long before he started diverting packages from the mailstream and selling them for profit. 

This February, the employee pleaded guilty to the three charges and was sentenced by a federal court to two and a half years’ imprisonment plus an additional four years of supervised release after he serves the time. 

FRESNO, Calif. — 6/23/26 – Isaac James Ocejo, 22, of Fresno, was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston to 15 years and 10 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.

According to court documents, between July 2023 and October 2024, Ocejo mailed several packages containing methamphetamine and fentanyl, through the U.S. Mail from post offices in Fresno to addresses in other states. In total, Ocejo and others shipped more than 10 kilograms of methamphetamine and more than a kilogram of fentanyl through the mail.

Ocejo and others also distributed significant quantities of methamphetamine in Fresno. In August 2024, Ocejo sold 10 pounds of methamphetamine to an individual in Fresno. The following month, Ocejo and co?defendant Isaac Estrada sold an additional 10 pounds to an individual at Trolley Creek Park in Fresno in broad daylight.

On Jan. 26, 2026, Ocejo pleaded guilty. Estrada pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and distributing methamphetamine in August 2025 and was sentenced to 46 months in prison on Nov. 7, 2025.

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cody S. Chapple prosecuted the case.

“The armed robbery of a federal employee is an attack on the integrity of our public institutions and the safety of those who serve this community,” said U.S. Attorney Pirro. “After stealing USPS master keys, De La Cruz used those keys to gain unauthorized access to mailboxes throughout the region, stealing mail, packages, and financial information belonging to residents. His conduct was calculated, far?reaching, and deeply harmful to victims whose mail he targeted. Today’s plea ensures he will be held fully accountable for the damage he inflicted on residents throughout the District and beyond.”

De La Cruz, aka “Black Migo,” pleaded guilty before Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan to one count of robbery of mail, money, or other property of the United States. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison. Judge Sooknanan scheduled sentencing for December 8.

According to court documents, on Aug. 10, 2024, De La Cruz approached a U.S. Postal Service employee who was performing maintenance on a USPS collection box in Northwest Washington and demanded the employee’s USPS Arrow Keys. The employee complied, and De La Cruz fled with the keys.

Using the stolen keys, De La Cruz carried out a series of high-volume mail thefts from residential buildings across the region. Investigators tied him to the crimes through surveillance footage, Instagram posts, and cell phone tracking. His targets included locations on the 1400 block of R Street NW; the outdoor mail area of 17^th Street NW; and mailboxes located at 2419 Ontario Road NW

De La Cruz also used a credit card stolen from the mail to make purchases for his own benefit.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Army Criminal Investigation Division.

The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Akhtar.

See photos here.

Today’s sentence followed Ruth’s prior entry of a guilty plea to twenty-five separate counts of mail fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud class action administrators throughout the country.  Following Ruth’s imprisonment, he will be on federal supervised release for three years.

According to filed court documents and statements made in court, Ruth was previously sentenced to prison for 56-months for Conspiracy to Defraud the United States Social Security Administrator, and Conspiracy to Defraud the United States Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, in the Southern District of Indiana.  Upon his release from imprisonment, in October of 2023, Ruth began serving a term of federal supervised release in the Eastern District of Tennessee that required him to submit truthful monthly reports to his supervising probation officer.

From at least January 2023 and continuing through at least July of 2025, Ruth engaged in a large-scale scheme to deceive class action administrators and to enrich himself through fraud.  Ruth identified class action lawsuit settlements and submitted hundreds of fraudulent claim forms to different class action administrators in which he purported to be entitled to relief under the terms of the relevant class action lawsuit.  Ruth predominately used the names of former Major League Baseball players to submit false claims.  To facilitate his fraud, Ruth opened post office boxes throughout northeast Tennessee to receive mail from class action administrators and opened a bank account in the name a sham business called “El Mundo Marketing” to deposit fraudulent received payments from class action administrators.  Ruth used proceeds from the fraud scheme to travel, to gamble, and to continue the scam.  Ruth admitted that he attempted to obtain more than $250,000 through his fraud scheme.

Ruth repeatedly submitted false monthly supervision reports to his probation officer to facilitate his mail fraud scheme.  For example, Ruth falsely reported on numerous monthly supervision reports that he did not have access to a post office box when, in truth, Ruth had thirteen separate post office boxes that he used to advance his mail fraud scheme.  Additionally, Ruth falsely reported on monthly supervision reports that he did not travel out-of-state when, in fact, Ruth regularly traveled out-of-state without permission.

“George Herman Ruth’s conviction exemplifies the unwavering commitment of the United States Attorney’s Office to investigate and prosecute individuals who commit fraud,” said U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III for the Eastern District of Tennessee.  “The eleven-year prison sentence imposed today reflects the seriousness of Ruth’s actions and will hopefully deter others from running schemes to defraud in the Eastern District of Tennessee.”

“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service has been at the forefront of protecting consumers from fraud schemes for many years,” said Inspector in Rodney M. Hopkins of the United States Postal Inspection Service’s Atlanta Division.  “Anyone who engages in deceptive practices like this should know they will not go undetected and will be held accountable, regardless of where they are.”

This case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service, the United States Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General, and the Morristown Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorneys Ryan Blackwell, Christian Lampe, Mac Heavener, and Wayne Taylor represented the United States.

Based on the investigation conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Harwood Heights and Summit Police Departments, Salamah was charged by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. Additional charges are possible as the investigation continues.

“This arrest is a statement that mail theft will not be tolerated, and the perpetrators will be brought to justice,” said Nicholas Bucciarelli, inspector in charge of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. “The Postal Inspection Service will continue to partner with other law enforcement agencies to collectively pursue criminals who victimize postal customers.” The Postal Inspection Service appreciates the assistance of the Harwood Heights and Summit Police Departments in this investigation as well as the continued partnership with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.

It is important to note that criminal charges are only allegations against a person. Every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

According to court documents, on July 11, 2024, a masked individual approached a U.S. Postal Service (USPS) mail carrier on his route in Virginia Beach, brandished a handgun, and demanded the victim’s arrow key. An arrow key is a master key used to access a variety of mail repositories, including blue collection boxes, outdoor parcel lockers, and apartment mailbox panels in a given area. The masked individual fled to a car in which Cameron Hunter Brown, 29, was waiting, and Brown and the masked individual fled in the vehicle.

Law enforcement identified the vehicle and located it on July 17, 2024. While the vehicle was stationary in an ATM drive-thru lane, officers attempted a traffic stop and instructed Brown to turn off the vehicle. Instead, Brown reversed out of the drive-thru lane, struck the credit-union building, sped through an unoccupied ATM lane, and fled with police in pursuit.

During the pursuit, brown tossed a handgun from the driver-side window onto a sidewalk. The handgun, which was later recovered, was equipped with a machinegun conversion device (MCD), rendering it capable of fully automatic fire. The handgun had been reported stolen from Chesapeake.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Washington Field Division and Homeland Security Investigations Washington, D.C., investigated this case with assistance from the Hampton Police Division.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Devon E.A. Heath prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

Danielle Marie Harms, 38, pleaded guilty in February 2026 to one count of misappropriation of postal funds.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided.

The government alleged in court documents that Harms stole more than $8,000 from the U.S. Postal Service as an employee of the Bainville Post Office by issuing fake money orders and then cashing them.

Harms began working for the post office in Bainville in February 2023. Bainville is one of the country’s few remaining “manual” post offices, meaning money orders issued by the office are written down by hand on paper for USPS transaction records. If the money order is purchased by credit or debit card a record of the purchase is also submitted electronically to the bank after it’s been written down on paper.

After learning the system, Harms began issuing money orders to herself and her boyfriend, recording them by hand as card transactions but never submitting the information to the bank. This allowed her to cash the money order while keeping the books balanced within the post office. USPS employs a service that regularly checks the postal service’s transactions with the bank to ensure the figures reconcile. Running one of these checks in August 2024, the service found a discrepancy of $8,235.91.

This launched an investigation and in January 2025 a special agent with the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General interviewed Harms, who eventually admitted to faking and cashing 34 money orders. She also admitted to taking cash from the post office till.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case. The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation.

USPS News Link – 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.

Khalea Turner, 29, of Hull, pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of mails. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date. Turner was charged in May 2026.

From approximately November 2022 to January 2026, Turner worked as a full-time letter carrier and covered routes in the three Boston neighborhoods, as well as the Fort Point neighborhood. During his time as a letter carrier, Turner obstructed approximately 14,700 pieces of mail by storing the mail in a U-Haul storage locker that he rented in Weymouth, Mass. On Jan. 9, 2026, the mail was recovered by law enforcement. Included in the recovered mail were U.S. passports, jury notifications, government checks, education documents and immigration paperwork, addressed to USPS customers along Turner’s delivery routes in Brighton, Dorchester and Mattapan.

The charge of obstruction of mail provides for a sentence of up to six months in prison, up to one year of supervised release and a fine of up to $5,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon statutes that govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Matthew Modafferi, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Postal Service, Office of the Inspector General, Northeast Area Field Office made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lucy Sun and Colin T. Missett of the Criminal Division are prosecuting the case.