Postal Worker Pleads Guilty to Stealing Mail

BOSTON – A U.S. Postal Service (USPS) employee pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston in connection with stealing mail and making over $16,000 in fraudulent purchases and ATM withdrawals.

Angela Gomez, 40, of Lynn, pleaded guilty to one count of theft of mail by an employee. U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper deferred acceptance of the plea until sentencing, which is scheduled for Sept. 2, 2021. In November 2020, Gomez was arrested and charged by criminal complaint.

Postal inspectors received information that customers in Lynn reported missing mail. For example, one USPS customer reported that an expected Lilly Pulitzer gift card never arrived in the mail. Further investigation revealed that USPS City Carrier Assistant Angela Gomez handled that particular customer’s route. Records indicated that the expected gift card was used in January 2020 for purchases delivered to Gomez’s then-home address and that the corresponding email address belonged to Gomez. Subsequent surveillance of Gomez during the performance of her duties revealed that she rifled through and stole mail on 21 separate occasions.

Agents were then contacted by an Eastern Bank fraud investigator, who was investigating multiple unauthorized Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) withdrawals and debit card purchases made using three separate Eastern Bank accounts. The Eastern Bank accounts were owned by individuals who all resided on the carrier route Gomez was assigned to prior to when the unauthorized transactions began. Eastern Bank records confirmed three compromised accounts. Security camera video footage related to several of the unauthorized debit card purchases (including at Walmart and Target shopping centers) showed Gomez making unauthorized purchases using debit cards associated with the three compromised Eastern Bank accounts. ATM and bank security camera videos from Eastern Bank showed Gomez making unauthorized cash withdrawals from the three Eastern Bank accounts. The total loss amounts of unauthorized debit card purchases and ATM withdrawals incurred to the three Eastern Bank accounts is $16,587.

Gomez also stole four separate U.S. Treasury Economic Impact Payment (EIP) checks, more commonly known as stimulus checks, totaling $4,800, which were intended for delivery to USPS customers who lived on Gomez’s carrier route. 

In total, Gomez stole $21,387 in fraudulent debit card purchases, ATM withdrawals and stimulus checks.

As part of the plea agreement, Gomez has agreed to pay restitution to the victims.        

The charging statute provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell; Matthew Modafferi, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Northeast Area Field Office; and William Kalb, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration Office of Investigations, New York Field Office made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugenia M Carris, Deputy Chief of Mendell’s Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit, is prosecuting the case.