Winter Harbor Woman Pleads Guilty to Theft of Money from the Postal Service

Contact: Chris Ruge
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 945-0373

Bangor, Maine:  United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Sandra Melnick, 52, of Winter Harbor, Maine, pled guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court to theft of more than $1,600 worth of public money.

According to court records, from about May 19 to September 12, 2014, while serving as a Postmaster Relief at the Sullivan, Maine Post Office, Melnick issued a series of money orders without reporting the sale or tendering the money to the Postal Service.  Many of these money orders were cashed by recipients before the defendant reported them as sold.  When Postal Service investigators audited Melnick’s accounts, there were still three previously-cashed money orders outstanding.

Melnick faces up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release.  She will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Postal Service, Office of the Inspector General.