USPS truck
Emerson Pavilus, 49, had been working for the U.S. Postal Service for about 15 years before he was found guilty of accepting bribes to deliver drugs along his mail route Latin Times

A U.S. Postal Service worker from Missouri was indicted for stealing over $1.5 million in checks and committing pandemic-related fraud after his fingerprints were found on the mail.

Anthony Virdure II, 29, was fired from the Postal Service Processing and Distribution Center in St. Louis, where he handled all first-class mail. He allegedly pilfered checks from the mail for months.

Virdure, was also employed by USPS, where he was believed to fraudulently obtain a COVID-19 relief loan for a fictitious tobacco business named Virdure Dynamics, misrepresenting its income and using his grandmother's address, according to The Charlotte Observer.

Authorities allege that his fraudulent activities resulted in a total value exceeding $1.5 million from the checks and $20,832 from a Pandemic Protection Program loan.

Virdure was indicted on three counts of mail theft and one count of wire fraud in the U.S. District Court, according to a the indictment. If found guilty, he could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for wire fraud, five years for each count of mail theft, or a combination of these penalties.

Virdure's case is currently being prosecuted by the Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwen Carroll and has drawn attention from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, highlighting their commitment to tackling mail theft and fraud.

"The Postal Inspection Service and its law enforcement partners will aggressively investigate those individuals who steal or defraud individuals or businesses of money and property," said John Jackman, head of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in St. Louis.