United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner
Eastern District of California
Three Fresno Men Sentenced to Prison for Stealing Mail
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | CONTACT: Lauren Horwood |
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December 7, 2011 |
PHONE: (916) 554-2706 |
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www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae |
usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov |
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Docket #: |
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FRESNO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that on Monday, December 5, 2011, United States District Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill sentenced three men in two similar conspiracies where U.S. mail was stolen from community mailboxes. Khay Xiong, 31, of Fresno, was sentenced to two years in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Xiong's co-defendant Kor Lee, 38, of Fresno, was sentenced to one year and four months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. In a separate case, Judge O'Neill sentenced Vue Cha, 28, of Fresno, to two and a half years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered him to pay $1,485 in restitution to the victims.
These cases were the product of an investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Sanger Police Department, and the Fresno County Sheriff's Department. Assistant United States Attorney Henry Z. Carbajal III prosecuted the cases.
1:11-cr-140-LJO — Xiong and Lee
According to court documents, between December 2011 and February 2011, mail was stolen from community mailboxes in Sanger, Fresno, and Lemoore. The thieves used handmade counterfeit keys to gain access to the back of the boxes, taking incoming and outgoing mail from the 16 compartments of the community mailbox. Xiong admitted to participating in the theft of mail on January 18, 2011 from community mailboxes in Sanger and to unlawfully possessing homemade counterfeit postal keys. Lee pleaded guilty to one count of possession of mail that was stolen from community mailboxes in Sanger, Fresno, and Lemoore.
1:11-cr-152-LJO — Cha
According to his plea agreement, Cha participated with others in stealing mail from community mailboxes in the Fresno area, unlawfully possessing homemade counterfeit postal keys designed to open community mailboxes, unlawfully possessing genuine postal mail locks and possessing mail stolen from community mailboxes.
Co-defendant Lee Toua Xiong earlier was sentenced to one year in prison, and co-defendant Cher Moua is scheduled to be sentenced on January 9, 2012.
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