3 Ohio men sentenced for stealing USPS keys, nearly $175K from blue boxes
Three Ohio men are going to federal prison for their roles in a mail theft ring in Cincinnati.
Lawrence Sherman, Brandon McCollum, and Jeffrey Wiley all pled guilty to conspiracy to commit mail theft, according to our news partner WCPO in Cincinnati.
A Southern District of Ohio judge sentenced Sherman to 40 months in prison, McCollum got 24 months, and Wiley was sentenced to 27 months.
Prosecutors say the three men stole postal arrow keys, which are master keys that open bulk mailboxes like the ones outside post offices or on street corners.
The three men took mail with checks or money orders inside the envelopes. They then “washed” or erased the names and amounts on those checks to falsely obtain the money, WCPO said.
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Sherman was referred to by prosecutors as the leader of the conspiracy.
It is estimated that they got away with nearly $175,000.
Sherman is reported to have used social media to recruit other people so they could use their bank accounts to make it harder to track their fraud, according to court documents.
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News Center 7 has reported throughout the year on mail theft from blue boxes across the Miami Valley.
Back in October, a mail carrier in Harrison Township was robbed at gunpoint near the 4600 block of Merrick Drive.
Frank Albergo, President of the Postal Police Officers Association told the I-Team’s John Bedell back in October that the robbery was the latest example of what the postal police union called the “mail theft epidemic.”
“Mail theft has been going on for three years and it’s just getting worse and worse and worse,” he said. “And who’s suffering? Well, it’s postal employees and postal customers.”
Ted Thompson, President of the National Association of the Letter Carriers, praised the sentencing of the three men in Cincinnati, according to WCPO.
“It should start sending a message to everyone that justice is going to be served,” Thompson said.
The three Ohio men were not accused by prosecutors of attacking mail carriers, but Thompson added that sentencing those involved in those crimes would help stop the attacks.
