Man stole 41 checks worth more than $700,000 from a lone mailbox in Virginia, feds say
Jonathan Drew was out on bond for mail theft charges stemming from a cluster of stolen paychecks and credit cards when more than $700,000 in business checks reportedly disappeared from a Virginia mailbox.
Now he’s facing 32 years in prison.
Drew, 38, pleaded guilty this week to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft after prosecutors said he spent nine months raiding the mailboxes of neighbors and strangers during the pandemic. He’s accused of using the stolen checks, credit cards and personal information to rent a second apartment, forge checks and buy patio furniture.
“The defendant illegally obtained the personal identifiers and financial information of more than 150 individuals ... by stealing their mail, which he then used to conduct fraudulent transactions and create counterfeit COVID-19 stimulus checks,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh for the Eastern District of Virginia.
A public defender appointed to represent Drew did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment Thursday.
Drew has been in jail since his November arrest after a magistrate judge determined “no combination of conditions” would ensure he appeared in court again.
Investigators first caught up to Drew when residents in a townhouse community in Reston, Virginia — about 30 minutes outside of Washington, D.C. — reported their paychecks and credit cards were stolen in January 2020, a U.S. Postal Inspector said in an affidavit supporting the charges.
The stolen credit cards were reportedly used to pay rent and buy two patio chairs from Target, the Postal Inspector said.
One resident eventually put up a surveillance camera and witnessed a man in a red Jeep raiding mailboxes, according to the affidavit.
The Postal Inspector was also able to track Drew to a second apartment complex, where he saw the patio chairs Drew was observed buying on surveillance footage at Target. Drew is accused of renting the apartment in another person’s name.
Police arrested Drew in March 2020 after investigators searched his apartment and found the names, personal information, bank account information, email addresses and phone numbers of at least 40 people. He was released from jail on a $1,000 bond, according to the affidavit.
Less than two months later, the Postal Inspector said 41 checks totaling $714,000 went missing from another woman’s mailbox in Reston.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the inspector said the woman was working from home. Several of the checks she was mailing were reportedly for vendors doing business with her employers.
Most of them were found during a subsequent search of Drew’s apartment in August, according to the affidavit.
In the intervening months, the Postal Inspector said Drew continued to steal mail and tried to pay more than $26,000 in rent with money from a business account that didn’t belong to him. He was also reportedly observed on his apartment complex’s surveillance footage taking packages from neighbors.
When investigators searched his apartment the second time, the Postal Inspector said they found a stolen stimulus check for $1,200 as well as six counterfeit stimulus checks.
An investigator with the Treasury Department — the federal agency tasked with doling out stimulus payments — then discovered Drew had somehow received two legitimate stimulus checks for $1,200.
Prosecutors filed a criminal complaint based on the Postal Inspector’s affidavit on Nov. 5 and Drew was arrested shortly thereafter.
Court filings show he entered a plea agreement Tuesday, and prosecutors said he will be sentenced Aug. 25. He faces between two and 32 years in prison.
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