Latest Legal News from the Federal Criminal Courts in the United States

APRIL 17, 2007

FORMER POSTAL EMPLOYEE SENTENCED TO NEARLY FOUR YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON, WITHOUT PAROLE, FOR STEALING MAIL

DALLAS — Stephen Glenn Edwards, a former employee of the United States Postal Service who admitted stealing mail, was sentenced this morning to 46 months in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas. Edwards, 35, of Irving, Texas, was ordered to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on June 5, 2007.

From March 2004 through September 8, 2005, Edwards was a United States Postal Service employee working as a Rural Carrier Associate out of the Westchester Station in Grand Prairie, Texas.

Edwards pled guilty in June 2006 to one count of theft of mail matter by a postal employee. In documents filed in Court, Edwards admitted that from May through September 2005, he embezzled and stole a large quantity of mostly First Class mail, including gift cards, credit cards, debit cards and financial statements.

At today’s sentencing hearing before U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay, Edwards admitted that he stole more than 1000 pieces of mail. Judge Lindsay expressed great concern over Edwards’s abuse of public trust.

As part of Edwards’s plea agreement, he agreed to abandon and forego all attempts at reinstatement with his position with the U.S. Postal Service, including any current appeals of his suspension or removal from employment. He further agreed to never again seek or engage in any employment relationship with the U.S. Postal Service or its successor agencies.