A former postal carrier in Clayton, Missouri, has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison for her involvement in a conspiracy to steal checks from the mail and commit bank fraud. U.S. District Judge John A. Ross also ordered Cambria M. Hopkins to pay $21,635 in restitution.
According to court documents, Hopkins sold her “arrow key,” which provides access to U.S. Postal Service collection boxes, to Malik A. Jones on March 20, 2022. She informed Jones about which boxes the key would open. Jones then paid others to use the key and steal mail from those boxes. In addition, Hopkins sold stolen checks from both her post office and her delivery route directly to Jones on multiple occasions. She received payment in cash, through CashApp, or in groceries.
Jones subsequently recruited other individuals who allowed him to deposit forged and fraudulent checks into their bank accounts.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow stated in a sentencing memo: “The relatively small amount of money for which (Hopkins) was willing to abuse her position, undermine the public’s trust, and harm those whose mail she stole speaks to the selfishness of her actions.” Clow also noted that when confronted by investigators, Hopkins “lied to investigators… and attempted to cover up her crimes by then deleting her messages with Jones.”
Hopkins pleaded guilty in August to one count of conspiracy and one count of unlawful use of a mail key.
Malik A. Jones was previously sentenced to 42 months in prison after pleading guilty to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Acting Inspector in Charge Mary Johnson of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service commented: “The sentencing in this case illustrates that individuals who steal mail will be held accountable for their actions. The Postal Inspection Service is proud to work with our local, state, and federal partners to bring mail theft perpetrators to justice and prevent financial crimes targeting local citizens, postal customers, and financial institutions.”
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow prosecuted the case.
