In a recent federal court ruling, a trio was sentenced to over 16 years behind bars for a mail theft and bank fraud operation that leveraged stolen mail from USPS collection boxes in Indianapolis. Court documents point out the crimes spanned from October 2021 to April 2022, involving Cortez Venable, Ephraim Aung, and Brooke Bryan in a series of bold thefts and robbery attempts to secure postal arrow keys for accessing mail collection boxes, followed by exploiting the financial documents found within.
The scheme was elaborate, starting with the theft of collection box keys from postal workers, often at gunpoint. Venable, who had communicated with Aung to also grab the letter carriers' mail bags, robbed a letter carrier on October 4, 2021. According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Indiana, Venable and Aung would then proceed to carefully plunder mail, focusing on checks and money orders to fuel a "card cracking" bank fraud. This technique tricks bank account holders into to unwittingly participate in depositing fraudulent checks in exchange for a quick payoff.
The consequences of these actions were considerable, impacting more than 150 victims who lost approximately $104,747.09 overall. During a search of Venable's car and home, authorities found a cache of 247 pieces of stolen mail, three arrow keys, $70,121.44 in stolen checks, and four firearms. At the apartment of Bryan and Aung, investigators uncovered stolen checks, altered money orders, and devices associated with their illicit activities. "Not only did this scheme victimize and traumatize letter carriers—it also victimized ordinary citizens who rely on the United States mail to send important correspondence or pay bills," Acting United States Attorney John E. Childress stated emphatically in a message," a Justice Department press release noted.
\"The sentencing of these three individuals shows the utmost importance we place on the safety of U.S. Postal Service employees and the sanctity of the U.S. mail," Detroit Division Acting Inspector in Charge Felicia George conveyed, as per the same Justice Department press release. The collaboration of the USPS Postal Inspection Service, the USPS Office of Inspector General, and local authorities was crucial in bringing the perpetrators to justice.
Those convicted now face years in federal prison—for Venable, already prohibited from possessing firearms as a convicted felon, the repercussions of their actions include taking away their freedom and branding them as felons. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service's investigation, with the U.S. Postal Service – Office of Inspector General, the Beech Grove Police Department, and the Lawrence Police Department, culminated in these sentences by U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker. The collective effort showcased how seriously the justice system takes the crime of mail theft and the subsequent fraudulence it enables.
