Vansant Woman Sentenced for Stealing Mail, Aggravated Identity Theft

Abingdon, VIRGINIA – A Vansant woman was sentenced today for stealing mail after authorities determined she was breaking into Post Office boxes and stealing bankcards and other items, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Jada Ratliff, 38, of Vansant, Va., was sentenced today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon to 28 months in prison and ordered to pay $2,669 in restitution. Ratliff previously pled guilty to one count of theft of mail and one count of aggravated identity theft

According to evidence presented at previous hearings by Assistant United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee, Ratliff used a screwdriver to open Post Office Boxes at a number of locations and steal the contents of those boxes. Some of the items Ratliff stole were bankcards issued in the names of others, which she then used, without authorization or approval.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the United States Postal Inspection Service. Assistant United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee prosecuted the case for the United States.