Former postal employee pleads guilty to embezzling mail packages in exchange for cash payments

CINCINNATI – A former Post Office supervisor pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court today to embezzling mail packages for profit.

Kerry Beech, Jr., 31, of Cincinnati, was paid $500 on each occasion to intercept certain packages from the mail system and hand deliver them himself.

According to court documents, Beech was employed with the Post Office from 2013 to 2021, most recently at the Parkdale Post Office in Cincinnati. In 2020, the defendant embezzled at least 28 packages in coordination with the individual who received the packages in person.

In July 2020, four of the packages were seized by federal agents. The sealed packages contained fentanyl and methamphetamine.

When agents searched Beech’s vehicle, they discovered $4,500 in cash and a loaded pistol.

Beech was charged by a Bill of Information in September 2022.

Theft of mail by an employee of the Postal Service is punishable by up to five years in prison. Congress sets the maximum statutory sentence. Sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the Court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, announced the plea entered today before Senior U.S. District Judge Michael R. Barrett and commended the investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service and United States Postal Service’s Office of the Inspector General. Special Assistant United States Attorney Timothy Landry is representing the United States in this case.

# # #