Gold, checks and Confederate money: Postal Service supervisor pleads guilty to $300,000 mail theft
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A former United States Postal Service supervisor from Compton has admitted to being a serial mail thief, pilfering more than $300,000 worth of checks, gold and collectible currency while on the job, authorities said.
Joivian Tjuana Hayes, 36, of Compton, pleaded guilty Friday to one count of theft of mail matter by a Postal Service employee and one count of unlawful transfer, possession and use of means of identification, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
From early last year until her arrest in December, Hayes — who was a supervisor at the Costa Mesa Post Office — stole checks from the mail and fraudulently deposited them in her own bank account by forging the payees’ names, according to her plea agreement. One of these checks was for more than $114,000, authorities said.
A U.S. Postal Service worker from Compton was arrested on suspicion of swiping more than 20 checks from the mail and depositing $281,000 into various bank accounts under her name, authorities said.
Surveillance camera video shows Hayes depositing the stolen checks at ATMs in Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley and Compton, prosecutors said. She deposited some checks at ATMs while wearing a blue shirt with a USPS logo, prosecutors said.
In total, she deposited 20 checks worth around $284,000, as well as $3,000 worth of postal money orders that she also swiped from the mail, prosecutors said.
When searching her home last month, federal agents found a trove of gold coins and collectible currencies.
This included a $1 bill from 1917 with a sticky note listing an estimated value of $675, a $100 bill dating from 1914 that was valued at $1,500, and a $10 Confederate States of America bill. They also discovered a $5 gold piece with a note listing a value of $1,600, prosecutors said.
Indictments issued against three men on felony charges, including aggravated identity theft, bank fraud, robbery of a post office and mail theft last week.
The total value of the stolen goods is estimated to be between $304,000 and $324,288.
Hayes is scheduled for a sentencing hearing on May 23. She faces up to 20 years in federal prison, prosecutors said.
This case was investigated by the United States Postal Service office of inspector general.
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