Post office supervisor steals mailed checks, gold coins worth $300,000, feds say
The supervisor of a southern California post office sometimes wore her blue USPS T-shirt when she went to different banks to deposit thousands of dollars in checks she stole from the mail, federal prosecutors said.
Joivian Tjuana Hayes, 36, of Compton, stole more than $300,000 in checks, postal money orders, gold coins and collectibles from the Costa Mesa Post Office she supervised in early 2024 through December, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. Costa Mesa is about a 40-mile drive southeast from Los Angeles.
Hayes pleaded guilty to theft of mail matter by officer or employee and unlawful transfer, possession, and use of means of identification on Feb. 7, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
A federal public defender representing her didn’t immediately return McClatchy News’ request for comment Feb. 10.
In December, Hayes admitted to federal investigators that she had been stealing “return to sender” mail as well as incoming mail while on the job, she acknowledged in her plea agreement.
When law enforcement searched her home in January, authorities found gold coins, pieces of gold, a pink wallet with a $2,599 U.S. Treasury check made out to someone else, a 1953 Topps #1 Jackie Robinson MLB Brooklyn Dodgers baseball card and U.S. currency, according to the plea agreement.
The U.S. currency included:
A Confederate $10 bill
a $1 bill from 1917 along with a sticky note listing a value of $675
a $100 bill dating from 1914 worth $1,500
A $2 bill from 1914
A $5 silver certificate from 1899
Hayes had stolen all of these mailed items from the Costa Mesa Post Office, according to prosecutors.
She also deposited at least 20 checks worth about $284,000 and $3,000 in postal money orders, which were mailed to other people, into her bank accounts, prosecutors said.
Hayes forged the names of the payees on the checks, according to prosecutors.
It’s estimated that Hayes stole $304,000 to $324,288 collectively while supervising the post office in 2024, prosecutors said.
She worked for the U.S. Postal Service for seven years, according to her plea agreement.
Now, Hayes is facing up to five years in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 23.
The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General investigated the mail theft.
During the early COVID-19 pandemic, there was a sharp increase in mail theft complaints, according to a September 2023 report issued by the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General.
From March 2020 through February 2021, there were 299,020 mail theft complaints — a 161% increase “compared to the same period in the previous year,” the report said.
Suspected mail theft can be reported to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service online or by calling 1-877-876-2455.
This story was originally published February 10, 2025 at 8:22 AM with the headline "Post office supervisor steals mailed checks, gold coins worth $300,000, feds say."
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