Combating mail theft and violent crimes targeting Postal Service employees is of the highest priority for the Postal Service and the Postal Inspection Service. As the law enforcement arm of the Postal Service, the Postal Inspection Service™ leads the organization’s efforts to protect all Postal Service™ employees, and efforts to ensure the secure delivery of mail to the American public.
Project Safe Delivery was launched in May 2023 to address a surge in mail theft and related violent crimes against letter carriers.
A joint initiative between the Postal Service and Postal Inspection Service, Project Safe Delivery employs a holistic approach to this end. It seeks to protect postal employees and the mailstream, prevent incidents through education and awareness, and enforce the laws that protect our nation’s mailstream.
The Postal Inspection Service is committed to protecting all Postal Service employees, securing the mail, and defending the Postal Service infrastructure from criminal activity.
On February 16, 2024, Teshan D. Jordan, 27, of Temple Hills, MD, was sentenced to 35 years after being convicted by a jury for armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, use of firearm in the commission of a crime of violence, and theft. “Our mission is clear: safeguarding the integrity of the postal system and protecting Postal Service employees is paramount,” said Ajay Lall, acting inspector in charge of the Washington Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. “postal inspectors will continue to collaborate with our law enforcement partners to pursue individuals who pose a threat to Postal Service employees and seek to exploit the nation’s mail system for their criminal activities.”
CINCINNATI – Lamarion Gray, 19, of Cincinnati, was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to seven and one-half years in prison for the armed robbery of a United States postal carrier last summer. Gray is one of more than a dozen defendants charged in the Southern District of Ohio since 2022 with crimes related to postal robberies.
On February 27, 2024, a federal judge sentenced 38-year-old Jermain Tyrone Holmes, from Dothan, Alabama, to 130 months in prison, announced Acting United States Attorney Jonathan S. Ross. The sentence followed his conviction for robbery of a postal worker. In addition, the judge ordered that Holmes serve five years of supervised release following his prison term. Federal inmates are not eligible for parole. “Postal inspectors’ duties include protecting Postal Service employees and investigating violent crimes that are committed against them,” said Scott Fix, inspector in charge for the Houston Division. “The sentence handed down to Jermain Holmes for the robbery of our letter carrier should serve as a reminder we will aggressively investigate to find those responsible and bring them to justice.”
A 27-year-old man, Johny Mixayboua, was sentenced to over three years in prison for multiple instances of mail theft affecting hundreds of residents in Western Washington. He was found guilty of stealing mail, government property, and engaging in illegal transactions using access devices, along with possessing an unregistered firearm.
In this case highlight video, DCI Robert Wemyss describes how a Washington Division investigation led to the arrest and conviction of three suspects who stole arrow keys from postal employees. Among the employees was a Hampton, VA, city carrier assistant on his first day at work.