The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas has announced that five Houston residents have been arrested or indicted in an alleged conspiracy to steal checks from individuals’ mail.
On Tuesday, federal prosecutors announced that five individuals, including three U.S. Postal Service employees, were indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
The five individuals were identified as Tryston Tremaine Vaughn, 28; Malcolm Tiree Joubert, 35; Alyssa Nadine Bryant, 27; Catherine Clauzelle Kilpatrick, 29; and Drakkor Jamar Alexander, 34. Prosecutors say they stole approximately $24 million in checks from the U.S. mail.
Vaughn, Joubert, Bryant, and Kilpatrick have made their initial appearances in federal court. Alexander has not yet been taken into custody, according to prosecutors.
The indictment alleges that Vaughn recruited Kilpatrick, Joubert, and Alexander, who were employed by the USPS, to steal checks from mail they carried along their routes. Vaughn and others then allegedly purchased the stolen checks from the postal employees and resold them to buyers through Telegram, an instant messaging and social media platform.
If convicted, all five defendants face up to 30 years in federal prison and a maximum fine of $1 million for conspiracy to commit bank fraud, according to federal prosecutors.
Kilpatrick, Joubert, and Alexander also face up to five years in prison for theft by a postal employee and a maximum fine of $250,000.
The investigation involved multiple federal agencies and law enforcement organizations, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the USPS Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Department of Treasury Office of Inspector General, the Treasury Inspector for Tax Administration, the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office, and police departments in Houston and Stafford.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service says that postal inspectors recover more than $1 billion in counterfeit checks and money orders each year.
The Postal Inspection Service recommends that individuals take precautions to protect their mail, including depositing outgoing mail in blue collection boxes before the last pickup or at a local post office. The agency also recommends retrieving mail frequently and never leaving it in a mailbox overnight.
Individuals planning to go on vacation are encouraged to have their mail held at a post office or ask a trusted friend or neighbor to retrieve it.
