5 former Postal Service employees among 11 charged with stealing credit cards from mail

Five former mail carriers with the United States Postal Service were among 11 people indicted Thursday on charges that they stole credit cards from the mail.

The 18-month conspiracy involved the mail carriers stealing credit cards and other financial instruments from the mail in order to sell them for cash or other items, federal prosecutors said.

Two defendants even obtained people’s Social Security numbers and dates of birth, allowing them to activate the stolen credit cards and use them at stores including Best Buy, Walmart and Meijer, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.

Three Chicago women — Rebecca Okunoren, 28, Monique Love, 29, and Dominique Sykes, 28 — are among the former mail carriers charged with conspiring to steal mail and committing unauthorized access device fraud, prosecutors said. The other two mail carriers charged are Jessica Jefferson, 32, of Broadview, and Myiesha Weaver, 34, of College Park, Georgia.

Six other Chicago area residents also are charged in the conspiracy to steal mail: Davey Hines, 28; Billye Harris, 26; Terrance Scales, 29; Stephon Johnson, 33; Loreal Ross, 31; and Brittnay Shepard, 28.

Hines, Harris, Johnson and Ross were also charged with unauthorized access device fraud and aggravated identity theft, prosecutors said.

“These arrests represent our commitment to work with our law enforcement partners to maintain the integrity and trust in the U.S. mail,” said Andre Martin, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Great Lakes Area Field Office of the U.S. Postal Service. “The majority of postal employees are hard-working public servants dedicated to moving mail to its proper destination.”

Several defendants were arrested Thursday and already have appeared in court, prosecutors said.

The federal investigation, called Operation Cash on Delivery, already led to charges last summer against five other people, including four former Postal Service employees.