Bronx man takes guilty plea in mail theft case

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WHITE PLAINS – Westchester County District Attorney Anthony Scarpino, Jr. announced that James Rodriguez of the Bronx, pleaded guilty to stealing undelivered mail from a mailbox last May in Mount Vernon.

He pleaded guilty to one count of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, a class D felony, for possession of a forged Connecticut driver’s license, and one count of Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Third Degree, a class D felony, for a check worth more than $3,000.00 found in the mail he had stolen. He is scheduled for sentencing Jan. 21, 2021.

DA Scarpino said, “Mail theft hurts all of us. From the victims of stolen checks to the victims of identity theft. It undermines our confidence in sending mail, and it interrupts receiving mail, which can include time-sensitive materials, bills, gift cards or checks which may be an important lifeline for the recipient. We continue to work with our law enforcement partners in the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and local police departments to catch these criminals and disrupt their enterprise.”

Mail thieves not only use the ready money­­–cash, gift cards or checks–they may find in the mail, but they often sell personal identifying information which may be found on medical bills, credit card or bank statements to others on the dark web, who are experts in identity theft.

On May 3, 2019, at approximately 12:30 a.m., James Rodriguez was caught stealing mail from a blue postal mailbox at 440 East Sandford Boulevard., Mount Vernon, by Westchester County District Attorney Criminal Investigators, US Postal Inspectors, and Mount Vernon Police. Rodriguez possessed an official postal “arrow” key, the kind assigned to postal workers who collect mail and used the key to remove mail from the mailbox. A check for over $3,000.00 was included in the haul. Law enforcement teams were watching that mailbox because it had been burglarized before. Following the theft, Rodriguez was arrested in a nearby parking lot. At the time, he possessed pieces of fake identification including a forged Connecticut driver’s license, as well as mail from the mailbox which included loose checks.




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