USPS employee sentenced for stealing $24 million worth of mailed checks

A former U.S. Postal Service (USPS) employee was recently sentenced to prison after she and two co-conspirators stole checks worth over $24 million, according to the Department of Justice.

Dena J. King, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, announced the sentencing in a press release on Feb. 7. Last week, Charlotte residents Nakedra Shannon, 30, and Desiray Carter, 30, were sentenced to 60 months and 54 months in prison for the crimes, respectively.

Officials say that Shannon, who was employed by the USPS from March 2021 to July 2023, stole incoming and outgoing checks while working as a mail processing clerk at a distribution center in Charlotte. 

According to the press release, Shannon admitted to stealing the checks on the job from April to July 2023. Her co-conspirators included Carter and Donell Gardner, who was sentenced to 54 months in prison and three years of supervised release in 2023.

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“[Shannon] conspired with Gardner and Carter to steal incoming and outgoing checks from the U.S. mail, which Gardner and Carter then sold to other individuals, including using the Telegram channel OG Glass House,” the press release detailed.

The thieves stole checks totaling more than $24 million, according to officials.

“[The total] includes over $12 million in stolen checks that were posted for sale on the Telegram channel OG Glass House, and more than $8 million in stolen U.S. Treasury checks,” the release added. “The defendants obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars in criminal proceeds of the mail theft scheme.”

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The U.S. Attorney’s office noted that the defendants pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit financial institution fraud and theft of government property. They were ordered to pay $113,333.87 in restitution, both jointly and separately. 

“In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney King thanked U.S. Postal Service’s Office of the Inspector General, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, IRS-Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Department of Treasury Bureau of the Fiscal Service, and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department for their investigation of the case,” the press release concluded.