A Charlotte man has been handed a 70-month prison sentence for his involvement in a mail theft conspiracy that netted over $1.6 million in stolen checks. Dominique Dunlap, 30, will also face three years of supervised release post-incarceration, and he is ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,650,921.70. Dunlap's conviction comes on the heels of a joint investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), United States Postal Service, Office of the Inspector General (USPS-OIG), and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD), the DOJ reported.
The scheme, which ran from August 2021 to November 2022, also involved Dunlap's wife, Kiara Padgett, who has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and Terrell Alexander Hager, Jr., sentenced to three years in prison. Padgett exploited her role as a postal carrier to snatch checks from her postal routes, with Dunlap acting as a broker, flipping the stolen checks to Hager and unknown accomplices.
"I am sick and tired of checks being stolen from the mail," U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson stated, "particularly where it is done internally by an employee. We will aggressively prosecute these cases to put an end to this crime." Ferguson's office has been vocal about the crackdown on mail-related fraud, particularly when postal employees are implicated. Court filings reveal that the checks stolen on Padgett's routes had a combined value exceeding $8.8 million, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Dunlap had previously admitted to his crimes on September 15, 2023, pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and four counts of possession of stolen mail. The commendable efforts of the USPIS, USPS-OIG, and CMPD have been acknowledged by Ferguson's office.
