Mail Carrier Who Stole Stimulus Checks, Gift Cards Worth $21,000 Sentenced To Prison

A former U.S. Postal Service (USPS) worker in Massachusetts was sentenced to prison last week for stealing stimulus checks and making fraudulent purchases and ATM withdrawals with stolen debit cards, prosecutors announced.

Angela Gomez, 40, was sentenced Friday by District Court Judge Denise Casper to three months in prison and three years of supervised release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said in a statement released on the day of the sentencing.

The Lynn, Massachusetts, resident previously pleaded guilty to one count of theft of mail by an employee on May 11 after she stole over $21,000 in stimulus checks, fraudulent debit card purchases and ATM withdrawals.

Gomez attracted the attention of authorities when investigators received information in February 2020 that USPS customers in Lynn reported missing mail, according to the statement posted on the Department of Justice's website.

One customer reported that an expected gift card from clothing brand Lilly Pulitzer never arrived in the mail. It had a route that was discovered to have been handled by Gomez, then a city carrier assistant for USPS.

The gift card, however, had been used in January that year for purchases delivered to Gomez's then-home address. Additionally, the email address used to make the purchases belonged to Gomez, according to prosecutors.

Surveillance of Gomez during her work revealed she had rifled through and stole mail on 21 separate occasions.

A fraud investigator for Eastern Bank also contacted federal authorities after multiple unauthorized ATM withdrawals and debit card purchases were made using three separate compromised accounts, which were all owned by individuals who lived on Gomez's previous carrier route prior to the transactions.

Security camera footage related to several of the transactions showed Gomez making unauthorized purchases using debit cards associated with the three compromised Eastern Bank accounts.

ATM and bank security videos from Eastern Bank also showed Gomez making unauthorized cash withdrawals from the three accounts.

Gomez had stolen a total of $21,387, which was broken down into $4,800 from stolen U.S. Treasury Economic Impact Payment checks — more commonly known as stimulus checks — and $16,587 from the three compromised Eastern Bank accounts. She has agreed to pay back the sum in restitution to victims as part of her plea agreement.