Man bought checks stolen from mail, then was caught selling them in the road, feds say
For $5 to $10 each, a Missouri man would buy checks stolen from the mail — and then he would resell them to make a profit, according to federal authorities.
He was caught in April, when patrol officers in the Spanish Lake area came across several people standing around a vehicle that was stopped in the road, according to an Aug. 9 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri.
Once the crowd dispersed and the driver continued on, police said they stopped the vehicle and found a Country Club Hills man in the backseat. Authorities said he was wearing a shoulder bag filled with checks and a gun.
“(He) told officers that he bought stolen checks for $5 to $10 each and would remove the writing on the checks before re-selling them for $20 to $25,” officials said.
The 19-year-old man pleaded guilty on April 28 to one felony count of possession of stolen mail matter, McClatchy News reported.
Now, he has been sentenced to 10 months in prison, records show. His defense attorney declined to comment on the sentencing.
In court records, prosecutors said the man had 179 checks when he was stopped. The checks belonged to about 100 people and businesses in the St. Louis area, and at least some of the checks were taken from U.S. Postal Service collection boxes.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow said the man’s actions went “beyond any sort of financial harm,” according to the release.
“Five victims said the theft of their mail snarled their finances, made them fear for the security of their personal information and cost them hours of work closing checking accounts and dealing with creditors,” officials said.
In one letter to the court, a wedding officiant said he mails wedding license documents to county clerks for filing.
“In this instance, a particular license failed to be filed and, as a result, one spouse was not included in her husband’s health insurance since they had no legal proof of marriage,” the officiant said. “She was denied necessary medical treatment for nearly 4 months until a duplicate was issued and the matter was resolved.”
The St. Louis County Police Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case.
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