RENO, Nev. – A former U.S. Postal Service mail carrier pleaded guilty today to stealing mail packages, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Trutanich of the District of Nevada and Acting Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey E. Krafels of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS OIG), Western Area Field Office.
Russell Francis Marks, 58, of Reno, pleaded guilty to one count of theft of mail by a postal employee. U.S. District Judge Robert C. Jones scheduled a sentencing hearing for May 3, 2021.
According to court documents and admissions made in court, between May 1 and November 24, 2017, Marks worked as a U.S. Postal Service City Letter Carrier at the Carson City post office. Marks admitted that he stole coins from five mail packages at the post office, and sold them to a coin dealer in Santa Rosa, California. Marks obtained $31,605 from selling the stolen coins. Postal customers filed missing mail complaints, which led to an investigation by the USPS OIG.
If convicted, the statutory maximum penalty faced by Marks is five years in prison, supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.
The case was investigated by the USPS OIG. Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Casper of the District of Nevada and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Robbins of the USPS OIG are prosecuting the case.
Complaints for mail crimes involving employees can be submitted at: https://www.uspsoig.gov/.
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| URL | |
|---|---|
| Component | USAO - Nevada; |
| OIG | United States Postal Service OIG |