A Boston woman has entered a guilty plea for her involvement in multiple armed robberies targeting United States Postal Service (USPS) letter carriers last year. Myesha Lewis, 22, admitted to two counts of robbery and two counts of assaulting federal employees, with sentencing scheduled for February 10, 2025, as reported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. These crimes are part of a concerning trend of thefts and assaults on postal workers in the Boston area.
In recent months, the USPS has reported an increase in arrow key thefts, which are used to open collection boxes and are targets in mail theft schemes. This plea follows a federal grand jury indictment of Lewis and co-defendant Kenneth Demosthene in May 2023, highlighting a broader issue of at least 23 assaults against USPS workers since July 2022. Many of these incidents involve weapons, with 15 cases reported to include knives, firearms, or both.
The specific incidents connected to Lewis took place on November 29 and December 16, 2022, where she and Demosthene forcibly took arrow keys from USPS carriers at different locations in Mattapan and Hyde Park, Massachusetts. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Mattapan instance involved physically yanking the key free, while in a the Hyde Park robbery the assailants used a knife to cut through the chain tethering the key.
Demosthene has already been sentenced to three years in prison this month, followed by supervised release. The consequences for these offenses are significant, with robbery charges potentially leading to up to 25 years in prison and assault charges up to 20 years, along with hefty fines. These penalties reflect the seriousness with which the federal court system addresses crimes against postal employees.
Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Inspector Ketty Larco-Ward have emphasized law enforcement's commitment to tackling these violent crimes and protecting USPS workers, with assistance from the Office of Inspector General. The case is currently being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Luke A. Goldworm from the Major Crimes Unit.
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