CINCINNATI — Three Cincinnati men are going to federal prison after prosecutors said they stole nearly $175,000 from blue USPS collection boxes for nearly a year.
Lawrence Sherman, Brandon McCollum and Jeffrey Wiley, all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail theft. Judge Susan Dlott sentenced Sherman to 40 months in prison, McCollum to 24 months in prison and Wiley to 27 months in prison.
Prosecutors said the three men stole postal arrow keys, took mail with checks or money orders inside the envelopes and then "washed" or erased the names and amounts on the checks to fraudulently obtain money. Prosecutors referred to Sherman as the leader of the conspiracy.
On Monday in federal court, prosecutors said that while it is estimated they got away with $174,891, the case was difficult to track because the fraud was widespread. Court documents say Sherman used his social media account to recruit other people, so they could use their bank accounts, making it harder to track their fraud. They refer to them as "bank mules."
Prosecutors noted Sherman's Instagram account, where they said he "flaunted" or "gloated" about their crimes by posting pictures with stacks of money and lavish trips to Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Miami.
Sherman's attorney, Paul Laufman, tried to persuade the judge for a more lenient sentence.
During Monday's sentencing, Laufman described Sherman and his co-conspirators as "knucklehead buddies," who weren't thinking about the gravity of their crimes, chalking it up to "stupidity of youth."
He also pointed out to the judge that Sherman had no prior criminal history, and that because he admitted to his role, he should receive leniency.
However, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio argued the defendants had many opportunities to stop what they were doing, after getting pulled over several times in the months leading up to their arrests.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Mangan brought up an incident on Jan. 24, when Sherman bribed USPS letter carrier Demarco Tappler for his arrow key. The day before, law enforcement arrested McCollum after a high-speed chase. Authorities said as officers were searching them, McCollum was hiding an arrow key in his butt.
Then, on Feb. 5, Greenhills police arrested Sherman. They found stolen mail in the car, but they said stolen mail was also thrown out of the car during the chase. The Jeep Cherokee Sherman was driving was reported stolen by Norwood Police on Jan. 23.
Dlott considered Sherman's lack of criminal history and admittance to his crimes, but she said she wanted to send a message about why these crimes are serious, saying "we seem to have an epidemic with stolen mail."
While the defendants were never accused of robbing any mail carriers at gunpoint for their mail keys, prosecutors brought up that these crimes are part of a bigger problem in the Tri-State. In fact, during the proceeding, Dlott stopped everything to see why law enforcement officers were talking and moving around in the back of the courtroom. One of them said they just got a message about another mail carrier who was robbed at gunpoint.
National Association of Letter Carriers President Ted Thompson celebrated the sentencing after months of demanding harsh punishments for people who engage in crimes involving mail or postal carriers.
"It should start sending a message to everyone that justice is going to be served," Thompson said.
Thompson was one of dozens of politicians and mail carriers who rallied at Fountain Square in August for systematic changes and increased prosecutions to protect postal workers in the wake of 17 attacks between 2022 and 2023.
Prosecutors never accused the trio sentenced Monday of attacking mail carriers, but Thompson said prosecuting those involved in the crimes underlying carrier robberies would deter the attacks.
"You are going to pay a penalty for that, and that penalty is going to be severe," he said.
