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Letter carrier pleads guilty to stealing mail, credit cards
  
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By STEFANIE THOMAS
Protecting bank accounts online and shredding credit card statements may no longer be enough when the danger of identity theft threatens from so many directions and, as some Cypress area residents experienced, even some mail carriers abuse the public’s trust.
Rodney Ervin worked for the U.S. Postal Service for nearly nine years, serving postal customers as a rural letter carrier from the Bearcreek Station in northwest Houston. Last week, the 41-year-old Humble man pleaded guilty to mail theft, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft, according to U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle’s office, Southern District.
“The investigation leading to the charges was triggered by the receipt of a complaint concerning fraudulent credit card charges from a customer residing on the route serviced by Ervin,” said USAO public affairs officer Angela Dodge in a media release. “[The investigation] ultimately identified Ervin on video surveillance at multiple merchant locations including Target, Exxon, Texaco and Academy Sports and Outdoors using the credit cards of three postal patrons residing on his route.”
Ervin faked the card holders’s signatures to complete the transactions, Dodge said. To date, Ervin is suspected of incurring a total of more than $2,500 in fraudulent charges to credit cards he stole from the U.S. mail.
Ervin, who otherwise shows no criminal history, was indicted on federal charges July 17 and released from federal prison July 25 to await sentencing in January. He may face up to a total of 17 years’ imprisonment.
According to the United States Postal Service Office of the Inspector General, the agency’s investigators conducted a total of 8,128 investigations in 2007, resulting in 817 arrests and 511 convictions for a multitude of offenses ranging from health care to financial fraud. That same year, between April 1 and Sept. 30, mail theft investigations resulted in 196 arrests and 513 administrative actions nationwide.
“Most postal employees work diligently to move the mail to its proper destination,” the agency states on its website. “Unfortunately, a small number of individuals betray the public’s trust. Investigating and identifying those employees who steal mail and seeking their prosecution is our responsibility.”
Report mail theft
BY PHONE: 1-888-USPS-OIG
BY E-MAIL: hotline@uspsoig.gov
BY FAX: 866-756-6741
INFO: www.uspsoig.gov
Rodney Ervin worked for the U.S. Postal Service for nearly nine years, serving postal customers as a rural letter carrier from the Bearcreek Station in northwest Houston. Last week, the 41-year-old Humble man pleaded guilty to mail theft, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft, according to U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle’s office, Southern District.
“The investigation leading to the charges was triggered by the receipt of a complaint concerning fraudulent credit card charges from a customer residing on the route serviced by Ervin,” said USAO public affairs officer Angela Dodge in a media release. “[The investigation] ultimately identified Ervin on video surveillance at multiple merchant locations including Target, Exxon, Texaco and Academy Sports and Outdoors using the credit cards of three postal patrons residing on his route.”
Ervin faked the card holders’s signatures to complete the transactions, Dodge said. To date, Ervin is suspected of incurring a total of more than $2,500 in fraudulent charges to credit cards he stole from the U.S. mail.
Ervin, who otherwise shows no criminal history, was indicted on federal charges July 17 and released from federal prison July 25 to await sentencing in January. He may face up to a total of 17 years’ imprisonment.
According to the United States Postal Service Office of the Inspector General, the agency’s investigators conducted a total of 8,128 investigations in 2007, resulting in 817 arrests and 511 convictions for a multitude of offenses ranging from health care to financial fraud. That same year, between April 1 and Sept. 30, mail theft investigations resulted in 196 arrests and 513 administrative actions nationwide.
“Most postal employees work diligently to move the mail to its proper destination,” the agency states on its website. “Unfortunately, a small number of individuals betray the public’s trust. Investigating and identifying those employees who steal mail and seeking their prosecution is our responsibility.”
Report mail theft
BY PHONE: 1-888-USPS-OIG
BY E-MAIL: hotline@uspsoig.gov
BY FAX: 866-756-6741
INFO: www.uspsoig.gov
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