Postal Worker Pleads Guilty to Aiding and Abetting Mail Theft in Liverpool

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK –Quayshaun Mitchell, age 28, of Syracuse, pled guilty yesterday before Chief United States Judge Glenn T. Suddaby to possession with the intent to unlawfully use a United States Postal Service key, and aiding and abetting the theft of mail, announced Acting United States Attorney Antoinette T. Bacon, Joseph Cronin, Postal Inspector in Charge of the Boston Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Matthew Modafferi, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Postal Service, Office of Inspector General-Northeast Region.

As part of his guilty plea, Mitchell admitted that on March 5, 2020, while employed by the United States Postal Service (“USPS”), he gave a USPS arrow key (used to open USPS mail collection boxes), a USPS letter carrier uniform jacket, and a USPS mail satchel to Kevin Ronny Williams, so that Williams could steal mail from USPS mail collection boxes in Liverpool, New York.  That same day Williams dressed as a postal worker wearing Mitchell’s jacket and carrying the mail satchel, and used the arrow key to open USPS collection boxes from which he stole 49 pieces of first class mail.  All of the stolen mail was later recovered from Williams.  Kevin Ronny Williams has pled guilty to offenses for his role in the mail thefts and is awaiting sentencing.   

The charge of possession with the intent to unlawfully use a United States Postal Service key, carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and the charge of aiding and abetting the theft of mail carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison.  Both offenses could result in the imposition of a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of 3 years.  A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors. Quayshaun Mitchell is scheduled to be sentenced on June 30, 2021.

This case is being investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG), and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tamara Thomson.