Feds Indict 27 for Alleged Mail Crimes, Including 17 Charged for East Side Thefts

Twenty-seven people have been indicted for a slew of mail crimes in a blockbuster indictment by Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. At least nineteen defendants committed their alleged acts in Manhattan, with some locations being targeted multiple times.

Robert Diaz received top billing on the indictment. He allegedly robbed two different postal carriers and swiped their arrow keys in June and July of 2022, and faces 40 years in prison if convicted.

“My Office is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to protect the safety of USPS employees and the integrity of the United States mail. The indictment against Robert Diaz and the many others who have been charged with mail-related crimes over the past several months should send a clear message that criminally targeting the U.S. mail is a serious federal offense and will not be tolerated,” Williams said.

The investigation that led to the vast indictment was conducted with help from Daniel B. Brubaker, the Inspector in Charge of the New York Office of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The FBI and the NYPD also got involved.

“As Postal Inspectors our primary mission is the protection of our people, the postal employees who serve the public dutifully each day. We will bring a laser-sharp focus to any investigation of violent criminals and individuals who target our employees, and whose members by doing so seek to steal from the public,” Brubaker pronounced.

According to prosecutors, nine separate incidents of alleged mail theft targeted various collection boxes ranging from 33rd St to 79th St, all between June and September of this year. Seven of those incidents reportedly occurred on Madison Avenue, with one on York Avenue and one on Lexington Avenue. Many involved stolen postal keys, with some crimes allegedly involving as many as three individuals.

The alleged crimes vary in intensity. Emmanuel Hernandez, who did not use a stolen key to allegedly pilfer from a collection box near 79th St. and Madison Ave. in August, faces up to five years in prison. Lydell Yancy, who was seemingly found near the same collection box with stolen mail and a stolen key on June 26, faces up to twenty years.

According to prosecutors, collection boxes near 68th St. and Madison Ave. had been hit three separate times by six different individuals. Stolen postal keys were involved in each incident. One defendant, listed as Carlos Mercado, allegedly also assaulted an officer “engaged in official duties,” tacking on the possibility of 20 additional years in prison.

Two other defendants listed in the indictment are postal workers themselves. They appear to have focused on robbing the unspecified Manhattan mail facilities they seemingly would have had access to. Audrey Frazer allegedly stole mail and “other items” from January of 2022 until April of 2023, and faces up to five years in prison for “mail theft by a postal service employee.”

On August 1 and 8 of this year, Christian Cebollero allegedly stole checks (and, again, other items) and faces up to ten years behind bars. He was charged with two counts of mail theft by a postal service employee.

Matthew Modafferi, a special agent working with the USPS’s Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG), commented on the crimes that were coming from inside the house: “We appreciate the outstanding effort by both our Law Enforcement partners and the Department of Justice. The vast majority of Postal Service employees are honest, hardworking individuals who would not violate the public’s trust in this manner. An employee who decides otherwise, however, will be aggressively investigated by OIG Special Agents.”