Former Postal Service Employee Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison for Scheme in Which USPS Trucks Were Robbed at Gunpoint

          LOS ANGELES – A former United States Postal Service employee was sentenced today to 132 months in federal prison for participating in two armed robberies and one theft of USPS trucks carrying cash – incidents that caused nearly a quarter million dollars in losses and significant trauma to one of its victims who later took his own life.

          William Crosby IV, 33, of Inglewood, was sentenced this morning by United States District Judge S. James Otero, who also ordered Crosby to pay $238,457 in restitution.

          On July 31, Crosby pleaded guilty to one count of robbery of United States property and one count of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime.

          Between August 2017 and March 2018, while a USPS employee, Crosby conspired with others to plan two armed robberies and a theft of USPS trucks carrying cash. The armed robberies and theft caused cash losses of $238,457, Crosby admitted in his plea agreement.

          “These violent episodes left lasting impressions on the (victim) USPS drivers, including one, who according to his loved ones and his supervisor, suffered extreme emotional trauma after the robbery before he apparently tragically took his own life,” prosecutors wrote in the government’s sentencing memorandum.

          Crosby is a former acting USPS supervisor and knew when the agency transported cash generated from the sale of money orders and USPS merchandise – information that is not known to all of its employees, according to court documents.

          On August 1, 2017, Crosby signaled to his co-conspirators that a USPS truck carrying a large amount of cash was on the loading dock at the Dockweiler Post Office in South Los Angeles. A co-conspirator wearing a USPS shirt walked onto the loading dock and stole a container inside the truck that contained approximately $128,236 in cash.

          On February 1, 2018, Crosby – who then was assigned to the Wagner Post Office in Los Angeles near the city boundary with Inglewood -- provided information to co-conspirators that a USPS truck carrying cash was leaving the facility. During the robbery, in which Crosby acted as a lookout, a minivan blocked the USPS truck just outside the Wagner Post Office, the robber threatened the truck driver at gunpoint, and the robber stole $37,658 in cash.

          On March 1, 2018, while Crosby was taking sick leave without pay from his job at the Wagner Post Office, he again conspired to rob a post office, this time the Dockweiler Post Office, where he previously worked. Less than one hour before the robbery, Crosby parked at a grocery store parking lot across the street from the Dockweiler Post Office in a spot where he could see the post office’s loading dock area.

          After the USPS truck left the facility, Crosby, along with his co-conspirators, followed the truck, according to the plea agreement. Crosby’s co-defendant -- his half-brother, Myron Crosby, 28, of Athens -- used a rented a Mercedes-Benz SUV to box in the USPS truck as it exited the southbound 110 Freeway at Slauson Avenue. At that time, another co-conspirator exited another vehicle, brandished a gun to control the USPS driver, and stole $72,563 in cash.

          Myron Crosby pleaded guilty on August 19 to one count of robbery of United States property. Myron Crosby’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for November 25, at which time he will face a statutory maximum sentence of 25 years in federal prison.

          This matter was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service and the United States Secret Service.

          The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Thomas F. Rybarczyk of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section and Jeffrey M. Chemerinsky of the Violent and Organized Crime Section.