JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – An undercover operation by the United States Postal Service (USPS) led to the arrest of a mail carrier.
James Sweat, 60, pleaded guilty to stealing mail while employed by the USPS.
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According to court documents, Sweat worked as a Rural Carrier Associate at the Baldwin Station in Jacksonville. On May 12, 2021, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) got a complaint from the station manager that Sweat might be stealing cash and gift cards based on a high volume of mail losses on his route.
The station manager said she conducted two of her own “integrity tests” based on customer complaints.
On May 7, 2021, she put a card with $10 cash on Sweat’s route. The recipient got the card, which had been re-taped, but the cash was missing.
On June 4, the OIG sent a greeting card on Sweat’s route to an invalid address. It should have been put in the “throw-back” case and shouldn’t have left the station. It had “3″ marked $20 bills and a “letter beacon transmitter” inside.
When the contents were rifled through or removed, agents were alerted, they stopped Sweat in his Postal Service vehicle and searched it.
They found the missing cash inside his wallet, and the greeting card opened. They also found an additional 24 greeting cards that had been rifled through in his vehicle. Sweat admitted he had been stealing cash from the mail for about a month and estimated he had opened approximately 100 mail items, stealing approximately $1,000.
Sweat faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not been set.