KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Five U.S. Postal Service employees have been charged with stealing mail.
The U. S. Attorney's Office - District of Kansas has announced in a news release that the defendants are all charged with one count of conspiracy to steal mail and one count of theft of mail.
The defendants, who were employees at the Robert L. Roberts post office on North 51st Street, are accused of stealing Amazon return packages, mail, and other items for their personal use between early 2023 and mid-October 2023.
The defendants include:
- Terrence Luster, 49, of Lee's Summit, Missouri
- Laura Dantzler, 64, of Kansas City, Kansas
- Arthur Hook, 49, of Lathrop, Missouri
- Craig Rowland, 54, of Kansas City, Kansas
- Cheryl Wankum, 60, of Overland Park, Kansas
The U.S. Attorney's office release says the Roberts branch was a designated location where Amazon packages were sent before their eventual return to an Amazon distribution center.
In late 2022, Amazon packages began accumulating at the Roberts location and were placed in large cardboard bins called Gaylords.
Video recordings from early 2023 to mid-October 2023 revealed that more than 25 USPS employees took items from the Gaylords containing the return parcels. The group included letter carriers, supervisors, and managers. Some employees took one or a few items and others took multiple items.
On some occasions, supervisory personnel were present when non-supervisory personnel rifled through and took items from the Gaylords. Supervisors and managers also took items from the Gaylords that were positioned in different areas inside and outside the Roberts branch.
The release states that Multiple employees reported that managers, Luster, Wankum and Hook told employees that the Amazon return packages were "trash," and the "items had to go," and that they were "free to take."
Amazon packages were recovered in the vehicles and homes of multiple postal employees.
The scheme resulted in the theft, rifling, or pilfering of approximately 1,384 known parcels to be returned to Amazon.
Both a conspiracy to steal mail and theft of mail charges carry terms of imprisonment of no more than five years, a term of supervised release of no more than three years, a fine not exceeding $250,000, and a mandatory special assessment of $100.
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