Investigative News Releases

CHICAGO — A United States Postal Service employee has been indicted on federal fraud charges for allegedly collecting augmented workers’ compensation benefits to which she was not entitled. In 2012, GRACIELA VENEGAS began receiving workers’ compensation benefits for an injury she sustained in the performance of her Postal Service duties. Venegas claimed her spouse as a dependent, which entitled her to receive augmented benefits.

Jacksonville, Florida – Delvenia Renee Mitchell has pleaded guilty to theft of government of property, over $1,000. According to court documents, in 2023, Mitchell worked as a postal carrier for the United States Postal Service (USPS). Investigation by the USPS – Office of Inspector General determined that Mitchell, using her assigned USPS gas card, made multiple gas purchases in Jacksonville and elsewhere that were outside of her delivery area.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Tuesday sentenced a man who committed bank fraud for years with checks stolen from the mail to 72 months in prison. Judge Pitlyk also ordered Terron T. Brown, 23, to repay $51,932 to victims. Brown pleaded guilty in August to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of bank fraud.

Distribution clerk at the Auburn Post Office stole cash and gift cards from mail PORTLAND, Maine: A Farmingdale woman pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Portland to theft of mail by a postal employee.

Two Cordele, Georgia, men were sentenced today for their participation in a scheme to defraud the Georgia Department of Labor (GaDOL) out of millions of dollars in benefits meant to assist unemployed individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Malcolm Jeffrey, 34, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay $16,958,372 in restitution. Gerard Towns, 34, was sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to pay $365,066 in restitution.