Former Postal Service employee sentenced to jail for fraudulently claiming jury service resulting in his wrongfully being paid salary
- - Employee fraudulently collected $38,923.95 in salary while claiming to be on jury duty --

Washington, D.C. – Joseph S. Winstead, a former U.S. Postal Service (USPS) employee, was sentenced today to five months in prison on his prior guilty plea to mail fraud in which he admitted to fraudulently claiming to be on jury service for 184 days total on two separate occasions when, in fact, he was not, resulting in Winstead being paid by the USPS $38,923.95 in salary to which he was not entitled, announced U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor and David C. Williams, Inspector General for the U.S. Postal Service.

Winstead, 52, of the 1100 block of Barnaby Terrace, SE, Washington, D.C., was sentenced in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia by the Honorable John D. Bates, who also ordered that Winstead’s jail term be followed by five months of home confinement and three years of supervised release. Judge Bates also ordered Winstead to repay USPS $38,923.95 in restitution in this matter. Winstead entered his guilty plea in February 2008.

During today’s sentencing hearing, Judge Bates noted two aggravating factors in his determination of the sentence. First, Winstead’s conduct was a serious threat to the integrity of the criminal justice system. Second, the judge noted the repetitive nature of Winstead submitting fraudulent court documents to USPS and that he did so in two different years, that is, 2004 and 2006.

According to the proffer of evidence by the government at the time of the plea hearing, which was agreed to by Winstead, USPS operated the Curseen-Morris Processing and Distribution Center at 900 Brentwood Road, NE, in the District of Columbia. Winstead was employed by the USPS as a Mail Processor, primarily at Curseen-Morris. Included within Winstead’s duties, among others, was the processing of U.S. mail.

When a USPS employee is called for jury service in federal court, the employee is entitled to be paid his or her normal salary while they actually serve as a juror or prospective juror. The employee is required, however, to submit documentation from the court showing the days that they actually were serving as a juror or prospective juror so the employee could be paid for court leave. Absent such documentation, the employee would be placed on leave without pay or absence without leave from USPS.

In the Fall of 2003, Winstead was sent a Summons by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to appear for jury service on October 1, 2003. Winstead did so appear and went through a juror orientation.

Pursuant to the summons, Winstead, in fact, did serve on a jury and did submit to his supervisors documentation that he so served. Winstead, however, also submitted through the U.S. mail numerous fraudulent documents showing him serving on the jury for approximately 144 days when, in fact, he did not do so, including many days past his dismissal from the jury on April 15, 2004. As a result of Winstead’s actions, he was paid by the USPS approximately $31,757.79 that he should not have been paid.

In the fall of 2005, Winstead was again sent a summons for jury service in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Thereafter, Winstead did, in fact, serve on a jury in April of 2006 and submitted supporting documentation to his supervisors. He also submitted in person numerous fraudulent documents showing that he had served for approximately 40 days when he was not engaged in jury service, including many days (through June 22, 2006) past his dismissal from the jury on April 28, 2006. This caused USPS to pay Winstead approximately $7,166.16 to which he was not entitled.

In announcing today’s sentence, U.S. Attorney Taylor and Inspector General Williams praised the hard work of the agents involved in this matter, especially Special Agent Steven Mason. They also acknowledged the efforts of Legal Assistant Lisa Robinson and former-Legal Assistant Teesha Tobias, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Butler, who prosecuted this matter.