Sacramento Couple Sentenced for Theft and Possession of Stolen Mail

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A Sacramento couple was sentenced today by United States District Judge Troy L. Nunley for a smash and grab vehicle burglary in South Sacramento, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

Keo Seng Saechao, 33, was sentenced to 21 months in prison, and his wife Pang Shoua Xiong, 33, was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

According to court documents, on September 26, 2012, a postal vehicle was burglarized in South Sacramento. The back window of the vehicle was smashed in with a tire iron and all of the mail in the truck was stolen. At the time of the burglary, 531 postal customers were left on the route. Saechao was driving the car during the burglary and Xiong was in the front seat.

On October 11, 2012, California Probation officers and CHP officers conducted a probation search of the defendants’ home as part of an unrelated investigation. They found evidence linking the couple to the postal vehicle burglary, as well as numerous other instances of mail theft in the South Sacramento area. A second search turned up large piles of stolen mail from the addresses that would have been in the vehicle in South Sacramento on September 26, 2012. A search of the computers in the apartment showed false IDs with the defendants’ pictures superimposed on it, “Check Designer” software that allows users to create and print checks, and the names and account numbers associated with several of the fraud victims whose identifiers were found on papers in the apartment.

On July 30, 2015, Saechao and Xiong pleaded guilty to theft of the mail.

This case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Morris prosecuted the case.

San Francisco Division Inspector in Charge Rafael Nunez of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service stated, “Postal Inspectors worked closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to arrest and prosecute the individuals responsible for the theft of U.S. Mail and damage to Postal property and equipment.