Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Mail thefts lead to federal crackdown
U.S. takes ‘zero tolerance’ stand as incidents rise
Federal authorities in Arkansas say they are taking a zero tolerance policy toward an old crime with a new twist — mail theft.
Theft of mail, a federal offense that can result in five years in prison and a $ 250,000 fine, has been a problem for years as thieves foraging for checks, money orders and salable goods targeted individual mailboxes or grabbed packages from front porches. But another form of theft has been on the rise in recent years in which thieves target the ubiquitous blue U.S. Postal Service collection boxes to steal hundreds — or even thousands — of pieces of mail at one time.
Recently, four North Little Rock residents were charged by complaint in federal court with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and with mail theft following sting operations involving several Post Office collection boxes. Three of those people, Javion Trevon Dozier, 19, Gilpre Flowers, 23, and Jamoun Young, 23, were arrested Feb. 20 and were released following an initial appearance before a federal magistrate judge. Officials said they are still searching for a fourth person, whose name has not been released.
Federal authorities said the investigation began last spring when the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Little Rock Police Department began receiving complaints from individuals and businesses in Central Arkansas that their mail was being stolen. Authorities received reports that checks were being altered as well as reports that counterfeit checks using legitimate account and routing numbers were being produced and cashed. Law enforcement estimates that
more than 700 reported victims of mail theft and forgery may be connected with this ongoing investigation.
In addition to the recent arrests, the U.S. attorney’s office in Little Rock is pursuing six cases from last year involving eight individuals, four of whom have been charged with possession of a stolen or counterfeit postal key, in addition to mail theft charges.
In years past, collection box theft was accomplished primarily through a practice known as “fishing,” in which a perpetrator would lower a glue trap or other adhesive device through the mail drawer on a string and collect whatever mail could be snagged. But lately, thieves targeting the collection boxes have either used brute force to get into the boxes or used a fraudulently obtained postal key to open the box and steal the contents. Using darkness as cover, most collection box thefts occur in the hours after the final collection of the day is made from the box. In the case of weekends or holidays, mail can often accumulate for a day or more before the box is emptied.
The most sought- after mail items are those containing checks or money orders, which authorities said can be chemically “washed” of the recipient name and amount of the check to be replaced by a different payee and amount, making the fraud virtually undetectable until the check or money order is stopped at the financial institution where it originated. Technological advances have even enabled thieves to negotiate such documents without ever appearing in person at the banking institution as well as to print out fake checks with legitimate account and routing numbers.
Last week, authorities from the U.S. Postal Service Inspection Service, the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. attorneys for Arkansas’ Eastern and Western districts talked about the problem, what is being done, and how mail patrons can protect themselves and lower the chances of being victimized.
Glen Henderson, assistant inspector with the U.S. Postal Inspection Office out of Fort Worth, said one of the most effective ways to avoid being victimized is also the simplest.
“During non-operational hours at the post office, instead of dropping your mail off in the blue collection box, I would go inside the post office and drop it off in the deposit box in the actual post office,” Henderson said. “That would include weekends and holidays as well. That is what I would highly recommend.”
Those who suspect they may have become a victim are urged to first call local police.
“That gets things rolling,” said Allen Bryant, special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service office in Little Rock. “My second call would be to my bank to check on the status of my account, what’s been going on, start following up on that.”
If a stolen document contains personal identification information, Bryant said, victims should also monitor their credit through a credit reporting agency. The three major credit reporting agencies in the U.S. are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
“I’d do a credit check and keep up with that to make sure someone’s not using that,” he said.
Bryant said mail theft can be reported online at www.uspis.gov or by calling (877) 876-2455. Mail thefts may also be reported to the office of the U.S. attorney in Little Rock by email at Usaare.reportmailtheft@usdoj.gov or by calling (501) 340-2645.
Jonathan Ross, U.S. attorney for Arkansas’ Eastern District, said his office has taken a zero tolerance policy to mail theft not only due to the economic damage suffered by businesses and individuals, but also because of what the U.S. Postal Service symbolizes.
According to the Smithsonian Institution, the Post Office of the United States was formed in 1775 — prior to the signing of the Declaration of Independence — and made up the backbone of a communications network that used income from postage for letters to subsidize delivery of newspapers and to build or improve roads along postal routes. By 1831, the Smithsonian said, the U.S. had twice as many post offices as Britain and five times as many as France. Mail service also helped subsidize early development of both railway and air transportation and was a way of binding together what rapidly became a far-flung nation as the U.S. expanded to the west.
“The mail is one of the things that makes us a free and open society,” Ross said. “It gives us the assurance that we can communicate, that we can ship goods around the country and know that what we send through the mail will get to its rightful destination. Damage to that erodes our social compact.”
Casualties of mail theft, Ross said, go beyond financial instruments. He said the bulk theft of mail in search of financial gain involves considerable collateral damage in its wake in items discarded by thieves such as birthday cards, wedding invitations, thank-you notes, letters to loved ones and other mail that can’t be converted into money.
“Sometimes people send very sensitive things through the mail,” he said, “mementos, keepsakes, any number of things, and we think people should be able to have the confidence that when they put something in the mail that it’s going to reach its rightful recipient, no matter what it is. We can’t say that right now with these blue postal boxes.”
In Arkansas’ Western District, U.S. Attorney Clay Fowlkes echoed Ross’ sentiments.
“We have several cases we’re working now, and we’re working with postal inspectors to investigate more of these cases,” Fowlkes said. “We’ve made it clear we want to make this a focus. … People should be able to trust that when they put something in the mail that it will be safe from criminal conduct, from theft, and so it’s important that we prosecute these crimes to the fullest extent of the law.”
To combat mail theft, investigators have deployed a number of strategies that authorities declined to discuss, but Ross said that moving forward, anyone considering stealing from a collection box should assume they are under surveillance.
“We have zero tolerance for mail theft, and we will use every tool at our disposal to arrest and federally prosecute those responsible,” he said. “If you steal the mail, you’ll go to jail. That’s the message we want to send.”