A postal worker accused of taking valuables from parcels at an Indianapolis facility has pleaded guilty to official misconduct and received probation. A co-worker has been charged in a separate case, but his arrest warrant had not been served as of publication, according to FOX59. The different outcomes leave the allegations against the second worker unresolved.
Two cases, different statuses
The investigation centered on trading cards that investigators traced to the USPS facility on Brookville Road. FOX59 reported that a $1,200 Neymar Jr. card and a $30 Jalen Brunson card went missing after entering the facility; the Brunson buyer received an empty parcel with a USPS apology note. Investigators concluded the Neymar card did not leave the building through legitimate mail.
FOX59 reported that Jordan Smiley told investigators he had taken items from parcels at the facility since early 2026 and sold valuables through pawn shops and resale outlets. During a June traffic stop, officers found two handguns with Smiley, along with marijuana and a case containing 43 trading cards; the handguns were not alleged to have been stolen from the mail. Smiley pleaded guilty to official misconduct on September 21; under his plea agreement, theft and marijuana charges were dismissed. He received 365 days of probation, with six days credited for time served.
Tyshawn Leach, who worked alongside Smiley, told investigators he had stolen between 15 and 30 packages and sold cards at trade shows, FOX59 reported. He was charged with official misconduct and theft of property valued between $750 and $50,000. The warrant for his arrest had not been served as of publication, so the allegations against him have not been resolved in court.
Oversight reports provide context, not a count of employee theft
Federal oversight findings point to control challenges, but they do not establish how often postal employees steal from mail or what happened at Brookville Road. A 2024 USPS Office of Inspector General audit examined efforts to detect and prevent internal mail theft at a judgmentally selected sample of 12 mail-processing facilities nationwide. It was not a measure of employee theft rates.
A separate May 19, 2026 follow-up audit found continuing deficiencies in arrow-key inventory, scanning, safeguarding and reporting processes, according to the USPS Office of Inspector General. That audit did not examine the parcel-sorting allegations in this case. Separately, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service reported 1,559 arrests of suspected mail thieves in fiscal 2023; the figure is not specific to postal employees.
Other cases show that postal-worker theft allegations are not unique to Indianapolis, but they cannot establish a trend. In a separate Indianapolis east-side case, FOX59 reported in May 2026 that three USPS employees faced charges over alleged thefts of cell phones and a Super Bowl ring. In Baltimore, the Internal Revenue Service reported that former postal employee Derrick Stewart pleaded guilty in May 2026 to mail-theft, wire-fraud and aggravated-identity-theft charges tied to his work at a mail processing and distribution center. Those cases differ in location and alleged conduct; neither establishes a connection to the Brookville Road investigation.
