Gift cards, checks and cash worth millions: 'Massive' mail-theft ring nabbed in Providence
PROVIDENCE – A ring of thieves targeted inbound and outbound U.S. Mail as they worked their jobs at a central sorting facility that handles mail for all of Rhode Island and much of southeastern Massachusetts, U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Cunha said Wednesday.
A supervisor at the sprawling facility on Corliss Street, Cyril Murray, 44, of Pawtucket, had a "vital" role in a conspiracy that culled envelopes containing gift cards, cash and checks from the mail stream, Cunha said.
A wave of arrests early Wednesday brought the number of people charged in the conspiracy to seven.
The conspirators worked with one another to steal mail while on shift at the facility, carrying out the scheme between March 1, 2023 and Feb. 13, 2024, according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court.
Investigators and federal prosecutors are still trying to size up the damage, said Cunha, who pointed to one example to convey the magnitude of potential losses.
A backpack with $1.3 million in checks, all from a single day
At the time of his arrest, one conspirator had a backpack that held $1.3 million in checks, Cunha said. The pack represented the haul of a single member of the ring on a single day, he added.
"That snapshot," said Cunha, "should give you some sense of the scope and scale of loss at issue here. It was massive."
How the alleged conspiracy worked
The mail-sorting facility, which handles roughly 3.5 million items each day, was the setting for a "well-organized" and "wide-ranging" conspiracy, Cunha said.
Some conspirators, who worked as mail sorters, often targeted specific types of mail and set those items aside on a separate tray, Cunha said.
He pointed to a mail tray that had been brought to the news conference as a visual aid.
Such trays hold on average 500 or more envelopes. During the holiday season, Cunha said, the conspirators might target brightly colored holiday envelopes, which could contain gift cards, cash and checks.
The thefts, Cunha emphasized, "were not isolated occurrences."
"Surveillance conducted during the investigation showed multiple members of the conspiracy engaged in taking, setting aside and then smuggling stolen mail out from the facility on any given day."
Prosecutors say the conspirators moved mail from trays to backpacks and then out of the facility to gatherings off-site where they divided the items among themselves.
Certain members, they say, took certain types of items, such as gift cards or checks, while others took cash and others took a mix.
How did investigators learn about the thefts?
Cunha said that some complaints about missing mail from residents who live on Cape Cod helped bring attention to the situation.
The criminal complaint details one aspect of the case investigated by U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Special Agent Antony Matarese.
In March 2023, Matarese learned about a piece of mail at the facility that had been opened.
The sender, it says, advised investigators that the envelope was supposed to contain a $150 Visa gift card, but Matarese didn't see it in there.
Investigators determined that the card had been activated and it had funded purchases at Lowes and Starbucks in Cranston, at a CVS in Providence and at a collectibles business in Hewlett, New York, says the complaint.
Video surveillance captured at CVS showed one of the conspirators using the card. The investigation led to reviews of surveillance footage from the distribution center, says the complaint.
One of the conspirators, say postal investigators, told investigators that Murray served in a "lookout-type capacity," concealed trays of stolen mail, joined the group at its meet-up location and took his cut of cash from greeting cards.
Murray, who joined the postal service in 2014, was interviewed briefly on Feb. 22, telling investigators he became aware of the identities of the conspirators and did nothing to stop them, saying he "just fell into it," the affidavit says.
He and six other conspirators are charged with conspiracy to steal mail and theft of mail by a postal employee.
An investigation continues. Members of the public can report mail theft by calling 1-888-877-7644.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence mail sorting facility was setting for mail theft, feds say
