Investigative News Releases

Working with our Law Enforcement Partners

Our special agents investigate nationwide internal crimes and fraud committed by postal employees and contractors as well as postal employee misconduct. We work with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and local prosecutors across the country to prosecute these crimes.

In some instances, we uncover much larger criminal activity being carried out by multiple individuals and organizations. In many of these cases, we partner with other federal and local law enforcement agencies to identify and hold responsible those who take advantage of the public’s trust in our postal system.

Below are links to the most recent news releases about our work.

Postal Employee Sentenced to Over Seven Years in Prison for Delivering Meth

Date Released: 09/11/2019

LITTLE ROCK—A letter carrier from West Memphis was sentenced Wednesday for his role in a methamphetamine conspiracy that federal authorities have charged as Operation "Money Don’t Sleep." Hayward Cleavon Shaw, 44, was sentenced to 90 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge James M. Moody. Cody Hiland, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, announced today’s sentencing. Shaw, while working as a postal employee, would assist drug distributors by helping them locate...

Doctor Agrees to Pay More Than $471,000 to Resolve Alleged Liability for Accepting Kickback Payments

Date Released: 09/05/2019

In a civil settlement agreement with the U.S. Government, an orthopedic surgeon has agreed to pay $471,221.46 to resolve allegations that he knowingly accepted illegal kickback payments in exchange for prescribing pain creams compounded and produced by OK Compounding, LLC, announced U.S. Attorney Trent Shores. The government alleged that Dr. James L. Womack, 42, a physician in Clinton, Missouri, accepted the kickback payments from June 1, 2013 through June 9, 2015. Womack wrote prescriptions for...

Justice Department Obtains $1.4 Billion in Largest Opioid Drug Case Recovery in U.S. History

Date Released: 07/11/2019

Global consumer goods conglomerate Reckitt Benckiser Group plc (RB Group) has agreed to pay $1.4 billion to resolve its potential criminal and civil liability related to a federal investigation of the marketing of the opioid addiction treatment drug Suboxone. The resolution – the largest recovery by the United States in a case concerning an opioid drug – includes the forfeiture of proceeds totaling $647 million, civil settlements with the federal government and the states totaling $700 million...

Former Postal Employee Sentenced for Mail Theft

Date Released: 07/09/2019

Jackson, Miss. – Calvin Taylor, 51, of Yazoo City, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves to 48 months of supervised probation for embezzling parcels of mail during the course of his employment with the U.S. Postal Service, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Special Agent in Charge Christopher Cave with the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Southern Area Field Office. Taylor was also ordered to pay a $2,000 fine. On April 4, 2018, Postal Service Office of...

Doctor Will Pay Nearly $130,000 for Allegedly Engaging in an Illegal Kickback Scheme

Date Released: 07/05/2019

A New York doctor has agreed to pay the government $127,072.34 for allegedly accepting illegal kickback payments from OK Compounding, L.L.C., announced U.S. Attorney Trent Shores. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Oklahoma entered into a settlement agreement with George Lehner, 46, a medical doctor, in an effort to recoup the costs to the U.S. government resulting from the illegal kickbacks. This civil settlement resulted from an investigation into numerous health care...