December 04, 2024
Casey Chapter/FSView via Imagn Content Services, LLC
Zachkey James was sentenced to four years in prison for posing as a USPS carrier and stealing checks from mailboxes. The case mirrors a wider trend in mail theft.
A Philadelphia man who stole hundreds of checks and money orders from U.S. Postal Service mailboxes will serve four years in prison.
Zachkey James, 29, was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to mail theft and other charges in April. On top of his prison sentence, he will face three years of supervised release and must return the $345,681.68 he stole.
James posed as a mail carrier to execute his scheme. Using stolen USPS Arrow Keys, he opened mailboxes and pulled out piles of undelivered letters. When he found one containing a check or money order, he changed the payee's name to his own or one of his co-conspirator's. James either cashed the funds or deposited them into a bank account controlled by himself or an associate.
The ploy continued from 2020 until November 2022, when James was arrested. Postal inspectors found heaps of undelivered mail in his apartment and car, including about 15 mail-in ballots. They were delivered to their respective county boards of elections in time to be counted.
Investigators also found solvent used to wash checks, toothbrushes to scrub away the original payee, multiple USPS Arrow Keys and a USPS uniform.
James' case is part of a wider trend. Since 2020, the USPS has observed "a significant growth in mail theft from mail receptacles primarily due to financially motivated crimes, notably including check fraud." The government agency found an 87% increase in reports of high-volume mail theft between the fiscal years of 2019 to 2022. There was also a 543% rise in letter carrier robberies during that same period.
State prosecutors charged 15 members of an alleged gang in North Philly with stealing over $200,000 from mailboxes earlier this year.
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