Three men from Northeast Ohio, including two former U.S. Postal Service employees, were sentenced to prison for their roles in the armed robbery of postal carrier

Three men from Northeast Ohio, including two former U.S. Postal Service employees, were sentenced to prison for their roles in the armed robbery of a postal carrier in which they were trying to steal packages containing marijuana.

Cortez Anderson, 29, of Oakwood Village, was sentenced to more than nine years in prison. Jabar Hogan, 34, of Cleveland, and Roy Malone, 34, of Bedford Heights, were both sentenced to nearly two years in prison.

A juvenile who was also involved in the robbery was sentenced to three years in a juvenile detention facility.

According to court documents:

The juvenile pointed a gun at the letter carrier on Oct. 30, 2017 in Euclid, when he told the carrier to “start walking” and retrieved a parcel addressed to a nearby apartment complex from the rear of a postal vehicle.

Security video nearby had images of a gray Dodge Charger that the juvenile drove in. A search of police databases revealed the vehicle was owned by Hogan, who worked at the Postal Service’s Processing and Distribution Center on Orange Avenue in Cleveland.

Further investigation revealed that Anderson paid Hogan with cash or marijuana for information about parcels fitting the profile of packages believed to contain marijuana. Hogan sent Anderson tracking numbers of the packages in order for Anderson to intercept the package either at its destination or, as in this case, straight from the postal truck.  Anderson sold marijuana and was believed to be affiliated with the Heartless Felons gang.

Monitored phone calls between members of the group revealed that Malone – also an employee at the Orange Avenue Processing and Distribution Center -- was the driver of the vehicle, while the juvenile used a firearm during the robbery and Anderson was in the car at the time of the robbery.

“These defendants put the letter carrier and public at risk with this armed robbery,” U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman said.

U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General Special Agent in Charge Kenneth Cleevely stated: “The vast majority of the 600,000 postal employees nationwide are hard-working, trustworthy individuals. However, a few of them decide to violate that trust and use their positions for personal gain. In this case, these individuals will have several years in federal prison to think about their terrible decision. They have lost their careers, pension, and freedom for a few dollars. Postal employees need to realize when they steal drug parcels from the mail, the put their fellow employees at risk. USPS OIG special agents and postal inspectors will aggressively investigate those using the postal system to traffic narcotics, and those employees who are involved. To report postal employee criminal activity or drugs being sent in the mail, please contact www.uspsoig.gov or 888-USPS-OIG.”

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elliot Morrison and Scott Zarzycki following an investigation by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.