The conspiracy lasted 18 months and involved courier carriers stealing credit cards and other financial instruments from the courier to sell them in cash or other items, the District Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois said.
Two of the defendants even obtained people’s social security numbers and birth dates, allowing them to activate stolen credit cards and use them at stores like Best Buy, Fry’s Electronics, Walmart and Meijer, prosecutors said.
Three Chicago women – Rebecca Okunoren, 28, Monique Love, 29, and Dominique Sykes, 28 – are among the former wallets who have been accused of conspiring to steal mail and commit fraud on unauthorized access devices, prosecutors said. The other two postmen accused are Jessica Jefferson, 32, from Broadview, and Myiesha Weaver, 34, from College Park, Georgia.
Six more Chicago area residents were also charged with conspiracy to steal mail. They are:
Davey Hines, 28;
Billye Harris, 26;
Terrance Scales, 29;
Stephon Johnson, 33;
Loreal Ross, 31; and
Brittnay Shepard, 28.
Hines, Harris, Johnson and Ross were also charged with fraud in unauthorized access devices and aggravated identity theft, prosecutors said.
“These prisons represent our commitment to working with our law enforcement partners to maintain integrity and trust in the United States post office,” said Andre Martin, Special Agent in charge of the Postal Service’s Chicago Great Lakes Field Office. from United States. “Most postal workers are hard-working civil servants, dedicated to transporting mail to the correct destination.”
Several of the defendants were arrested on Thursday and have already started to appear in court, prosecutors said.
The federal investigation, called Operation Cash on Delivery, has already resulted in charges against five other people, including four former USPS employees, last summer.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire – Copyright Chicago Sun-Times 2021.)