The Indictment alleges that between 2008 through August of 2009, Bourg rifled through the mail and stole controlled substances, trading cards, DVDs, and other items from mail letters, cards and packages. Complaints were made that several items had not reached their intended recipients. During their investigation, investigators observed Bourg take a package from the post office. A search warrant was executed on his home where investigators discovered additional packages and items which Bourg admitted to taking from the mail.

In the event of a conviction, the maximum potential penalties are 17 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and supervised release for a period of up to 3 years.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lettricea Jefferson-Webb, and it was investigated by the United States Postal Service, Office of the Inspector General, Veteran’s Administration Office of Inspector General and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Bourg is scheduled to appear for arraignment before the United States Magistrate Judge on December 22, 2009, at 9:30 a.m., in Louisville, Kentucky.

“It has been weeks and the hard-working employees at these post offices are still waiting for answers,” said Congressman Hodes. “The USPS should immediately present a plan to ensure that workers are immediately reimbursed for their lost wages, and that appropriate disciplinary action is taken. Those individuals responsible for cheating New Hampshire families out of hard earned wages must be held accountable.”

Earlier this year, Congressman Hodes wrote to the USPS Inspector General asking for an investigation into claims that management at the Milford Post Office, Manchester South Station, and Manchester West Station had manipulated time cards to cheat workers out of wages to which they were entitled. The investigation revealed that management at these stations and at the Somersworth and Salem post offices had in fact engaged in these practices and denied New Hampshire workers the wages they had earned.

The full text of the letter is below:

Dear Postmaster General Potter,

A United States Postal Service (”USPS”) Office of Investigator General (”OIG”) investigation revealed on October 15, 2009 that managers at 5 New Hampshire postal stations were manipulating time sheets in order to underpay workers. I request information on the USPS’s plan of action to respond to this OIG report, whether the USPS plans to reimburse workers, and what steps USPS is taking to ensure that this type of manipulation does not happen again.

In May of this year, I wrote to USPS Inspector General David Williams requesting that his office investigate claims that the United States Postal Service had altered letter carriers’ timesheets on an electronic time system for the last six years. His investigation subsequently revealed that management altered time entries which, according to a letter from Mr. Williams, “resulted in the removal of straight time, overtime night differential and penalty overtime causing employees to be underpaid.” These managers stole time from letter carriers at five New Hampshire postal stations, even as they worked on Christmas Eve.

The USPS must properly reimburse workers for the wages that were taken from them and hold the managers who engaged in these deceitful, unethical practices accountable for their actions. The postal workers in my district deserve answers, and they deserve to be reimbursed for the wages that they have earned. The USPS must put practices in place to make sure that electronic time system manipulation does not happen again, and that those individuals who cheated letter carriers out of hard-earned wages are held accountable. I request that you present a plan to accomplish these goals, and look forward to your reply.

The Honorable Paul Hodes
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Attention: Sarah Levin

Dear Mr. Hodes:

We received your May 21 letter on behalf of the New Hampshire branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC). They alleged manipulation of the Time and Attendance Collection System (TACS) by management at the Milford Post Office, Manchester South Station, and Manchester West Station. Specifically, they alleged postal management altered electronic timecards to avoid paying NALC carriers overtime and to falsify the reporting of work hour usage at these facilities.

As background, TACS is the timekeeping system used by the Postal Service to record employees’ work time and to ensure proper payment. TACS also manages budgeted work hours for each facility. Employees are assigned an individual identification card, bearing a magnetic stripe encoded with their personal information. Employees use their cards at an Electronic Badge Reader (EBR). The employees enter the type of clock ring and operation number, if applicable, and then slide their cards through the EBR. This produces a record of the date, time, type of clock ring, and the operation number to TACS.

Every week, postal managers reconcile and download TACS data to the Accounting Service Center (ASC) in Minnesota, which collates this information and uses it to generate employee paychecks. Managers have manual access to the TACS in order to approve overtime and correct timekeeping errors before the information is downloaded to the ASC. Manual access to TACS is individually password protected. When a postal manager makes a manual change, TACS records the nature of the change, the date, time, and the Employee Identification Number of the person making the change.

We conducted an investigation, which included interviews and a review of records and documents. We concluded that management at the Milford Post Office made manual entries to change employees’ clock rings for the period of December 14, 2002, through December 19, 2008. These changes resulted in the removal of straight time, overtime, night differential, and penalty overtime causing, employees to be underpaid. Additionally, we found an apparent flaw in the way that TACS handles hours worked by clerks who also perform carrier work for part of their day. This flaw causes an unintentional loss of pay to employees. We forwarded our findings to postal management for action they deem appropriate.

We concluded that manual entries to change employees’ clock rings were made by management to TACS at the Manchester South Station for the period of December 22, 2007, through June 26, 2009, and at the Manchester West Station for the period of December 23, 2006, through June 26, 2009. These changes resulted in the removal of night differential and overtime causing employees to be underpaid. We forwarded our findings to postal management for action they deem appropriate.

After we began our investigation, we widened our scope to include two other nearby locations, specifically the Somersworth Post Office and the Salem Post Office. Our investigation concluded that at the Somersworth Post Office for the period of the December 22, 2007, through June 12, 2009, and at the Salem Post Office for the period December 22, 2007, through July 1, 2009, manual entries were made to TACS. Management changed employees Move clock rings from one operation number to another, which caused work hours to be posted to operations employees apparently did not perform. These changes resulted in misstatements of budgeted work hour activity at the facilities. These findings were also forwarded to postal management for action.

If you or your staff have any questions related to your inquiry, please contact Betsy Cuthbertson in our Congressional Response unit at (703) 248-2270.

Sincerely,

Lance Carrington
Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Investigations

Acting U.S. Attorney Lawrence G. Brown announced today that DAVID ALLEN GIBSON, 42, of Sacramento, was sentenced this morning by United States District Judge John A. Mendez to 21 months in prison to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release for possessing items stolen from the U.S. Mail and for possession of a loaded firearm. He was also ordered to pay restitution.

This case was the product of extensive investigation by the U. S. Postal Inspection Service.

According to Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Rodriguez, who prosecuted the case, on September 26, 2008 a registered mail bag was stolen from a locked U.S. Postal Service truck in Sacramento County. The bag contained cash from the daily receipts of the Carmichael Post Office, a $400 money order, basketball cards, cremated human remains, and eight unique gold coins valued at $1, 393.

On October 31, 2008, GIBSON pawned two coins: a 1373-75 Iran Azadi gold coin, and a 1926 Netherlands 10 gulden gold coin. Then on November 8, 2009, he sold an 1876 German 20 mark gold coin to a coin shop. Both times he used his own driver’s license for identification.

On November 18, 2008, federal agents executed a search warrant on GIBSON’s residence where they found the basketball trading cards and the remaining five gold coins: a 1979 South Africa gold coin, a 1923 Turkey gold coin, an 1875 Belgium 20 francs gold coin, a 1348 Iran 1/2 pahalavi gold coin, and an 1882 R Italy 20 lira gold coin. GIBSON, a previously convicted felon, was in possession of a loaded 380 caliber semi-automatic pistol.

After his arrest, the cremated human remains anonymously were returned via deposit in a Sacramento blue mail box. The theft from the U.S. Postal Service Truck is unsolved and anyone having information concerning the crime are encouraged to contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. GIBSON pleaded guilty on March 3, 2009.For more information please contact: Sarabjit Jagirdar,Email:- htsyndication@hindustantimes.com

MICHAEL COLEMAN, age 35, a resident of Marrero, Louisiana, pled guilty today in front of United States District Judge Martin L.C. Feldman to a one count bill of information for theft of government funds, announced U. S. Attorney Jim Letten.

According to court documents, in May, 2008, MICHAEL COLEMAN, who was previously employed as a letter carrier at the Main Post Office in Gretna, Louisiana, admitted that he found and stole six blank postal money orders at the post office. According to court documents, these postal money orders were “bait” money orders, meaning they were money orders that could be tracked upon their usage by the United States Postal Service. After stealing the six postal money orders, COLEMAN deposited one of them in his personal bank account, gave some of them to his family members, and sold the rest. In all, the bait postal money orders were worth $1,215. Sentencing has been scheduled for August 20, 2009.

The single count carries a maximum penalty of ten years imprisonment, three years supervised release, a $250,000 fine, and a $100 special assessment.

The case was investigated by agents from the United States Postal Service, Office of Inspector General. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorney Matt Chester.

“Anyone who buys stamps at a discount should be on notice of the risk that they are purchasing stolen property,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein.

According to the indictment, Foster was a window clerk at the Elkridge Post Office, having been employed there since 1998. First class postage stamps are provided by USPS to local post offices packaged in “bricks” which consist of 2,000 stamps valued at $840 per brick and “coils” which consist of 100 stamps valued at $42. The indictment alleges that from June 2008 through March 2009, Foster stole “bricks” and “coils” of stamps from the post office, which he provided to Mathias and others to sell. Mathias sold the stamps through an account he set up on E-bay. The indictment seeks forfeiture of $682,809.11, alleged to be the proceeds of the scheme.

Foster and Mathias face a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Postal Service – Office of Inspector General and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for their investigative work. Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant United States Attorneys Sandra Wilkinson and Rachel M. Yasser, who are prosecuting the case.

Former rural carrier associate Rodney Ervin has been sentenced to prison for mail theft, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft, acting United States Attorney Tim Johnson announced today.

U.S. District Court Judge Melinda Harmon sentenced Ervin to one month imprisonment on the mail theft count, one month for the access device count to run concurrently. He will also serve a two-year mandatory statutory maximum sentence for the aggravated identity theft count, to run consecutively for a total of a 25-month sentence. Indicted on July 17, 2008, Ervin pleaded guilty on Nov. 7, 2008, admitting he stole mail containing credit cards from customers residing along Rural Route 127, delivered out of the Bear Creek Station located on Cairnway Drive in Houston.

Special Agents of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG) initiated an investigation upon receiving a customer complaint advising use of a Chase MasterCard credit card stolen from the mail. Follow-up investigation revealed two additional Chase credit cards stolen from the mail. USPS-OIG agents determined Ervin had been assigned to the effected route when the reported mail losses had occurred. In addition, Ervin was captured and identified from video surveillance at various merchant locations using the credit cards and signing the legitimate customers’ names. The customers advised they did not authorize Ervin possession or use of their credit cards and Ervin was identified as being responsible for $2,517.52 in fraudulent charges.

Following the sentencing of another rural carrier associate in just less than two weeks, also resulting in the mandatory two-year-term, once again, the USPS reiterates: “Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States and is a serious federal offense,” said Max Eamiguel, Executive Special Agent-in-Charge, USPS-OIG, Southwest Field Office. “The American public trusts the Postal Service to deliver its mail intact. When a postal employee betrays that trust and steals mail, then uses stolen financial information to wreak havoc in the lives of our citizens, Special Agents of the Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General investigate. Fortunately, these incidents are not common and the overwhelming majority of the 700,000 postal employees are honest and hard working. With the prosecutive support of the United States Attorney’s Office, we will aggressively pursue any employee committing a postal crime.”

Ervin began his employment with the United States Postal Service as a rural carrier associate on Aug. 28, 1999. His employment has since been terminated.

Ervin will be allowed to self-surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on within 45 days. In addition to the 25 months sentence plus the mandatory two-year prison term, Judge Melinda Harmon also imposed a two-term of supervised release to begin following his release from prison and further ordered he pay restitution to the victims in the amount of $2,517.52.

The investigation leading to Ervin’s indictment and arrest was conducted by Special Agents with USPS-OIG. The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Tammie Y. Moore.

Former rural carrier associate LaNardsha Rose has been sentenced to prison for aggravated identity theft, acting United States Attorney Tim Johnson announced today.

U.S. District Court Judge Gray Miller sentenced Rose to two years imprisonment, the mandatory statutory maximum sentence today. Indicted in April 2008, Rose pleaded guilty on Dec. 8, 2008, admitting she stole mail from three customers residing along an assigned delivery route. Rose stole mail containing several boxes of personal checks addressed to two different postal customers and a MasterCard credit card destined for a third postal customer. The effected customers resided on Route 116 and Route 69 delivered out of the Copperfield Carrier Annex on Highway 6 North in Houston.

Special Agents of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG) initiated an investigation upon receiving customer complaints. As a rural carrier associate Rose was not assigned to one permanent route; however, USPS-OIG agents determined Rose had been assigned to the effected routes when the reported mail losses had occurred. In addition, Rose was captured and identified from video surveillance attempting to pass one of the customer’s stolen checks made payable to “LaNardsha Rose.” In addition, at least two other checks made payable to “LaNardsha Rose” cleared the second victim’s account. Rose’s cell phone number was also captured in connection with an inquiry seeking information about the stolen Mastercard account. Rose was later identified making several purchases using the card. She was also captured on video surveillance using the card and signing the legitimate customer’s name iIn connection with one of the purchases

“Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States and is a serious federal offense,” said Max Eamiguel, Executive Special Agent-in-Charge, Office of Inspector General, USPS, Southwest Field Office. “The American public trusts the Postal Service to deliver its mail intact. When a postal employee betrays that trust and steals mail, then uses stolen financial information to wreak havoc in the lives of our citizens, Special Agents of the Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General investigate. Fortunately, these incidents are not common, and the overwhelming majority of the 700,000 postal employees are honest and hard working. With the prosecutive support of the United States Attorney’s Office, we will aggressively pursue any employee committing a postal crime.”

Rose began her employment with the United States Postal Service as a rural carrier associate in December 2006. Her employment has since been terminated.

Rose will be allowed to self-surrender to the Bureau of Prisons in two weeks. In addition to the mandatory prison term, Judge Miller also imposed a one-year-term of supervised release to begin following her release from prison and further ordered she pay restitution to the victims in the amount of $1304.04.

The investigation leading to Rose’s indictment and arrest was conducted by Special Agents with USPS-OIG. The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Tammie Y. Moore.

Little Rock – Jane W. Duke, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, announced the waiver of indictment and guilty plea of Andre Ben of Sherwood, Arkansas.

On January 29, 2009, Ben pled guilty to one count of theft of mail by a postal employee before Chief United States District Judge J. Leon Holmes. Ben faces a statutory sentence of up to five years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, or both. In addition, any term of imprisonment will be followed by up to three years of supervised release. A sentencing date will be set by the court at a later date.

According to the Information, Ben served as the Acting Officer-in-Charge of the England, Arkansas Post Office from November 2006 until May 2008. While in that position, Ben stole cash and money orders from the United States Mail that was intended for Charles Capps Ministries. Ben then converted those funds for his own use and benefit. The Ministry estimates that it suffered a loss of over $38,000. Specific loss calculations will be determined at sentencing.

Duke stated, “Theft by any governmental official is a very serious matter. But, when you couple this type of abuse with the fact that the official was stealing from a charitable institution, the conduct becomes even more egregious.” She added, “Our Office and the Office of Inspector General for the Postal Service are committed to aggressively investigating and prosecuting those individuals who abuse their positions of public trust.”

The case was investigated by the United States Postal Service – Office of the Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney Karen Whatley is prosecuting the case for the United States.