Mail thieves are sentenced, must pay $27,000 restitution
When an Orlando mail carrier and her ex-boyfriend were caught stealing checks from residents along her route, she lost her job, and he lost his freedom.
Nequila McHayle, 25, of Orlando, and her co-conspirator Demetric Simon, 31, of Orlando, pleaded guilty July 27 to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States after McHayle stole U.S. Treasury checks intended for Orlando residents along her mail route, according to court documents.
The thefts happened between March 2014 and May 6, 2015, according to court documents; McHayle would take Treasury checks from her mailbag and give them to Simon, who would then sell them to others for a portion of the checks’ face values.
McHayle was sentenced Wednesday to two years’ probation, while Simon was sentenced last week to 18 months in prison. They were also ordered to jointly pay $27,266.82 in restitution to the U.S. Treasury.
The total number of checks stolen and number of victims were not listed in court documents, but at least one check was worth more than $4,300.
McHayle’s attorney, Donna Lee Elm, argued for probation over prison time, claiming her client “did not benefit or take a single dollar from the checks” stolen. Rather, Elm said McHayle did it at the will of Simon.
McHayle’s attorney had argued that she had a “significantly reduced mental capacity” at the time of her criminal acts because of her “history of domestic violence.” Her attorney further argued for a lesser sentence because she is a mother of two children and has no prior criminal history.
Simon has a substantial criminal history in Orange County, including multiple drug arrests, according to court records.