Mail Carrier Guilty, Misuses Postal Box Access: State Attorney

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — A mail carrier with the United States Postal Service in St. Petersburg has pleaded guilty to identity theft and other charges, according to the U.S. State Attorney's Office.

Jasmine Wynne, 31, of Ruskin participated in bank fraud activities along with others from June 2017 to September 20, investigators said. Wynne used her status and the special access she enjoyed as an employee of the USPS to open first class mail entrusted for delivery to the post office. Afterward, Wynne would photograph the contents of the mail, which included victim bank account information and personal identifying information (“PII”). She also took photographs of United States Passport applications that were processed at her post office location in St. Petersburg. These applications also contained PII and bank account information, investigators said. Wynne then emailed the photographs to coconspirators who utilized the PII and bank account information to commit bank fraud, according to the U.S. State Attorney's Office.

Wynne also used her position as postal employee to access and steal at least one restricted postal arrow key. An arrow key is a special master key that opens USPS collection boxes, banks of mailboxes at apartment complexes, and any other mailboxes. The arrow keys are manufactured for the USPS and distributed through controlled channels. Wynne provided the stolen postal arrow key to her co-conspirators in exchange for payment so that they could steal mail from locked mailboxes and secure additional PII and other information for use in the bank fraud conspiracy, court documents said.

She has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and theft of a postal key, court officials said.

She faces up to 30 years in federal prison for the conspiracy count, two years’ imprisonment for the aggravated identity theft charges, and up to 10 years in prison for theft of a postal key.

Wynne’s sentencing hearing has been scheduled for November 17, 2021.