An Upper Darby man has been sentenced to a year behind bars for his involvement in a mail theft scheme that targeted U.S. Postal Service collection boxes in Delaware County, PA. Twenty-five-year-old Anthony Mazzccua also faces three years of supervised release post-incarceration and must cough up $26,654.94 in restitution, following his sentence by United States District Court Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro, according to a report by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Mazzccua, along with his codefendant Hervens Toussaint, was caught by law enforcement officials using a USPS Arrow Key to access and steal contents from postal collection boxes, after which they engaged in a check-washing operation, changing payee names and amounts, and then depositing these into accounts owned by third-parties – at times, they tried to withdraw or did withdraw the fraudulently obtained money, resulting in a series of victims facing financial losses tied directly to their illegal activities.
Back on October 27, 2021, the duo and an unindicted juvenile were intercepted trying to steal mail from a blue collection box in Aston, PA, with Mazzccua found in possession of multiple stolen checks and a USPS route key tag; inside the vehicle, authorities discovered around 13 pieces of stolen mail and eight stolen checks, as reported by law enforcement. Toussaint, also from Upper Darby and a year older than Mazzccua, previously received a lighter sentence of three years' probation, a fine of $1,000, and was ordered to make restitution in the sum of $15,706.67.
"The U.S. postal system is a cornerstone of American society, delivering essential items such as income, bills, and expenses," U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero conveyed in a statement, stressing the importance of the postal service and the impact such crimes have on the public's trust in its integrity, Romero further emphasized the severity of undermining the mail's security and lauded the collaborative efforts of the postal inspectors and local police that brought the perpetrators to justice, "Postal Inspectors will work relentlessly to hold those individuals to account," Christopher Nielsen, Inspector in Charge of the Philadelphia Division for the Postal Inspection Service, assured the community, he also extended his gratitude to the investigators from the Upper Chichester Township Police Department for their vital role in apprehending the suspects, and tipped his hat to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their resolve in prosecuting mail theft cases.
The investigation was a combined effort by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Social Security Administration, and the Upper Chichester Township Police Department, with Assistant United States Attorney Eileen Castilla Geiger heading the prosecution. Officials ask that anyone who notices suspicious activities related to mail handling report the incidents to authorities to help protect the postal system's integrity.
