Fed Indict 16 For UES Mail Theft, Face Up To 20 Years In Prison: SDNY

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Officials would like to remind everyone that messing with the mail is a federal offense.

On Wednesday, federal officials said that 27 people got the ultimate reminder after they were indicted by federal prosecutors for an array of mail-related crimes, from mugging postal workers and stealing mail keys to stealing mail from postal boxes, an issue which has plagued the Upper East Side for some time.

In fact, Upper East Side crooks made up the majority of those charged in the multi-agency initiative aimed at cracking down on mail-related crimes.

Federal officials said that 16 of those indicted face charges relating to thefts committed in the silk-stocking district, with some facing up to 20 years in prison.

“As Postal Inspectors our primary mission is the protection of our people, the postal employees who serve the public dutifully each day," said U.S. Postal Inspection Service inspector Charge Daniel B. Brubaker. "We will bring a laser-sharp focus to any investigation of violent criminals and individuals who target our employees, and whose members by doing so seek to steal from the public."

Nearly all of the 16 mail robbers used stolen postal keys to swipe mail from collection boxes, mostly between East 79th and 68th streets, according to officials.

In fact, collection boxes near one Upper East Side corner, on East 68th Street and Madison Avenue, was targeted by six people named in the indictment, federal prosecutors said.

Two of the people named in the indictment were actually postal service employees who stole checks and other items from USPS facilities in Manhattan, officials said.

One of the people charged, Robert Diaz, faces up to 40 years in prison for robbing postal carriers and stealing USPS arrow keys.

The charges announced today allege crimes that targeted and, in some cases, betrayed our mail delivery system to prey on innocent victims," said NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban.

"Fortunately, our NYPD investigators and law enforcement partners worked in tandem to disrupt this conduct and bring these defendants to justice," said Caban.

USPS Office of Inspector General Special Agent Matthew Modafferi said that "the vast majority of Postal Service employees are honest, hardworking individuals who would not violate the public’s trust in this manner. An employee who decides otherwise, however, will be aggressively investigated by OIG Special Agents."

The 19th Precinct has long sounded the alarm about theft from USPS collection boxes, particularly regarding a practice known as "fishing," or when crooks insert a belt or string into a mail slot with adhesive on the end to try and steal mail.

19th Precinct captain Anthony Lavino told a community group earlier this year to be wary of the crime, called "check washing," where thieves can change the payable party's name on a check.

In April, police arrested a 19-year-old caught stealing mail from a collection box in Lenox Hill.

Less than two weeks earlier, four people were arrested and charged with a similar scheme at a mailbox just two blocks south also on Third Avenue.

Last October, NBC New York reported that the Upper East Side saw more than 100 mail thefts so far that year.

And in September 2022, 19th Precinct representatives said they arrested a pair of mail thieves fishing for mail in a post box who had over $84,000 in stolen checks in their car.

Federal officials said that the 16 people indicted in connection to the Upper East Side mail thefts could face between five to 20 years behind bars if convicted.