Postal worker stealing mail in Virginia wanted money for drugs and daughter, feds say
A Virginia postal worker was caught stealing mail and doing drugs in her postal vehicle, federal officials said.
Kiesha Brown pled guilty Dec. 16 to theft of mail matter while employed at LC Page Post Office in Norfolk, according to court records.
Brown’s attorney told McClatchy News in a Feb. 7 email he does not have a comment on this case.
The Office of Inspector General launched a mail theft and check fraud investigation in June 2023, after receiving complaints from customers, prosecutors said.
One business owner reported that about 16 checks had been stolen from his mail, including one check of $146.6 that was later deposited in a bank account for over $4,000. The check was not delivered to the intended recipient, according to court documents.
In February 2024, Brown was identified as a suspect, after investigators found that many of the complaints came from customers on her postal route, and a camera was hidden in her postal vehicle, according to court records.
Video footage from the camera showed her using drugs, rummaging through mail and stealing it, prosecutors said.
In an interview with investigators, Brown told them she had been stealing the mail and exchanging it for money to support her daughter and to buy drugs, according to court records.
At that time, she pulled out 29 pieces of stolen mail from her jacket, prosecutors said.
Now, Brown faces a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison with three years of supervised release and up to a $250,000 fine, according to court documents. She is scheduled to be sentenced April 23, her attorney said.
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 7, 2025 at 12:34 PM with the headline "Postal worker stealing mail in Virginia wanted money for drugs and daughter, feds say."
