A former United States Postal Service (USPS) employee, Nakedra Shannon, has been sentenced to five years in prison and a $100,000 fine for her involvement in a widespread mail theft scheme where over $24 million in checks were stolen from the U.S. mail system. The sentencing, announced by the United States Department of Justice, is a significant crackdown on financial fraud and government property theft.
Shannon worked as a mail processing clerk at a USPS distribution center in Charlotte, North Carolina, from March 2021 through July 2023. During this time, she and co-defendants Desiray Carter and Donell Gardner plotted to steal and intercept checks coming in and going out. The trio pilfered all types of checks, including U.S. Treasury checks, which they resold on encrypted internet platforms like Telegram.
One of their primary points of sale was a Telegram group named “OG Glass House,” where more than $12 million in stolen checks were being sold. Additionally, more than $8 million in U.S. Treasury checks were stolen as part of the scheme. The scammers reaped hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal profits before law enforcement stepped in.
Federal agencies, including the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of the Inspector General, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, IRS-Criminal Investigation, and the U.S. Department of Treasury Bureau of the Fiscal Service, conducted an extensive investigation of the fraud. As a result of their work, the individuals who perpetrated the fraud were arrested and prosecuted. In addition to Shannon’s 60-month sentence, Carter and Gardner were each sentenced to 54 months in prison. Shannon and Carter will each serve two years of supervised release after they are released, and Gardner will serve three years of supervised release. The three defendants were also ordered by the court to pay $113,333.87 in restitution, jointly and severally.
The case points to significant vulnerabilities in the USPS mail system but also raises questions about how such large-scale fraud could have occurred within a federal agency. Administrators of the postal service and law enforcement officials are demanding more security steps to prevent such crimes from being repeated in the future. Suggestions include more thorough screening of workers, improved tracking of valuable mail, and increased internal audits.
The revelation of this scheme underscores the need for close supervision of government offices that handle sensitive financial transactions. Authorities are requesting the public to remain alert and notify them of suspected mail fraud schemes. As the USPS attempts to regain confidence, federal authorities are resolved to reinforce security to safeguard government assets and public funds.
