Press Release
Guilty Plea in Armed Robbery of Mail Carrier in Rancho Cordova
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of California
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Juan Carlos Maldonado, 22, pleaded guilty today to the armed robbery of a U.S. mail carrier, participation in a bank fraud scheme, and aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, on June 21, 2016, Maldonado and others used a sport utility vehicle with its plates removed and followed a U.S. letter carrier in a Rancho Cordova neighborhood. They pulled alongside the postal truck and when the carrier stepped out to deliver mail, Maldonado wielded a pistol at the carrier and robbed him at gunpoint. During the robbery, Maldonado and his associates raided the postal truck, stealing over 800 items of U.S. Mail. Following the robbery, they rifled through the stolen mail for personal identification and financial information, which Maldonado used and provided to others for use to defraud financial institutions.
On June 30, 2016, Maldonado was arrested by the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office at the Red Hawk Casino while attempting to access proceeds from credit cards stolen during the June 21, 2016 robbery.
San Francisco Division Inspector in Charge Rafael Nunez stated: “Working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our partners in law enforcement, Postal Inspectors arrested this individual for the armed robbery of a U.S. Postal Service Letter Carrier. Protecting postal employees from harm is the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s top priority.”
This case is the product of an investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service and the United States Postal Inspection Service’s Narcotic and Economic Crimes Investigations Task Force (NECI) with assistance from the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office, the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office, and the Rancho Cordova Police Department. NECI is a partnership between local and federal law enforcement to combat theft and unlawful use of the U.S. Mail. The Placer County District Attorney’s Office and Sutter County Sheriff’s Office have each dedicated law enforcement personnel to the task force. Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Rodriguez is prosecuting the case.
Maldonado is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez on September 12, 2017. Maldonado faces a maximum statutory penalty of up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine for bank fraud, a mandatory two years in prison consecutive to any other term for aggravated identity theft, and up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for robbery of a U.S. mail carrier. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
Updated June 6, 2017
Topic
Identity Theft
Component