What to Know
- Two men were charged in connection to a mail theft spree in New York, authorities say
- Steven Carson, 27, and Derek Brown, 28, both of Yonkers, were charged with allegedly stealing mail from Postal Service mailboxes
- Over the past few weeks, there have been additional arrests in connection to mailbox thefts in Yonkers
Two men were charged in connection to a mail theft spree in New York, authorities say.
Steven Carson, 27, and Derek Brown, 28, both of Yonkers, were charged with stealing mail from Postal Service mailboxes, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman and Inspector-in-Charge of the New York Office of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Peter Rendina announced in a joint statement Friday.
According to court documents, on April 2, 2018, Brown redeemed a stolen gift card at a Gap store the same day that a Bronxville victim mailed the card. Two days later, Carson deposited two money orders stolen from the mail into an account in Brown’s name.
Additional allegations state that on April 20, 2018, both men fled from police officers during a traffic stop in Eastchester, New York, after police recovered a bag full of mail in the vehicle they were in. The bag allegedly contained more than $66,000 in stolen checks and money orders taken from the mail.
Allegedly, Carson was also captured on video surveillance on four separate occasions – April 18, 19, 20 and May 4, 2018 – opening locked Postal Service boxes and stealing mail in Bronxville.
Authorities say the investigation is ongoing.
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Both men have been charged with one count of mail theft, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Carson is also charged with one count of stealing a Postal Service key, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Both men are scheduled to appear in federal court in White Plains Friday.
It is not immediately clear if any of the men retained an attorney who could comment on these charges.
These latest charges come after other recent arrests in connection to mailbox thefts in Yonkers.
In early June, A former United States Postal Service employee was arrested in connection with incidents of alleged mail theft in Yonkers and in May a young man was also arrested as part of the ongoing investigation into mail theft crimes.
