Oakland Man Charged In One Of Multiple Robberies With A Firearm Of U.S. Mail Carriers

OAKLAND - David Leveren Quinn has been charged in a federal criminal complaint with robbery affecting interstate commerce, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson and United States Postal Inspection Service Inspector in Charge Rafael Nunez.

The criminal complaint alleges that between August 11, 2020, and September 25, 2020, Quinn, 31, of Oakland, committed at least six robberies or attempted robberies of United States Postal Service (USPS) letter carriers in East Oakland with one or more unknown conspirators. While the circumstances vary, the complaint alleges that in most of the robberies Quinn and one other person surveilled a USPS letter carrier and then parked near the letter carrier’s mail truck. Quinn or his co-conspirator would get out of their vehicle, confront the letter carrier, and take or attempt to take trays of mail and packages from the mail truck.  In several of the robberies, Quinn or his co-conspirator carried, showed, or pointed a suspected firearm at the letter carrier during the robbery.  The complaint alleges that Quinn committed the robberies, at least in part, to engage in identity theft, including by stealing unemployment benefits issued during the COVID-19 global pandemic.

The complaint specifically charges Quinn with a September 19, 2020, robbery of a USPS letter carrier near the corner of 66th Avenue and Avenal Avenue in Oakland. At around three in the afternoon, according to the complaint, a silver Infinity sedan, with its front license plate removed, parked near a letter carrier who was at the back of his mail truck retrieving mail. Quinn got out of the Infinity, approached the letter carrier, and placed a suspected firearm at the letter carrier’s right side and told him not to move.  Quinn was joined by his crime partner, and they took mail trays from the mail truck and fled in the Infinity sedan.

According to the complaint, shortly after the robbery, surveillance footage from an ATM in Oakland shows Quinn using a California Employment and Development Department (EDD) debit card to withdraw $1,000 in cash.  That debit card had been mailed to an address on the mail route of the letter carrier who Quinn had just robbed.  The next day Quinn used the same prepaid debit card to purchase a Cadillac SUV that he used in a subsequent attempted robbery.  A law enforcement search of Quinn’s phone showed that Quinn also tried to activate another EDD debit card that had been mailed to an address also on the mail route of the letter carrier that Quinn had robbed on September 19, 2020.    

Quinn made his initial appearance in federal court today before United States Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler.  Quinn is in custody and his next scheduled appearance is at 10:30 am on December 22, 2020, before United States Magistrate Judge Beeler for a status hearing regarding his detention.            

A complaint merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and Quinn is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, Quinn faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000, or twice the gross pecuniary gain to the defendant or twice the gross pecuniary loss inflicted on victims, and restitution.  However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553. 

Noah Stern is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Kay Konopaske and Kathleen Turner.  The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the United States Postal Inspection service and the Oakland Police Department.