DENVER — A 45-year-old woman was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison after using fraudulent checks to obtain more than $258,000 in stamps from post offices in Colorado and Texas, the United States Justice Department said Tuesday,
Fanice Reed (aka Fanice Jones), formerly of Humble, Texas, was also ordered to pay $72,727.99 in restitution and serve three years of supervised release, following her sentence for theft of government property.
From February 2019 through March 2020, court documents say Reed obtained stamps with checks that she claimed to be drawn from the bank accounts of law firms, non-profit groups or other businesses that did not exist, the justice department said.
> Video above from October: New postal service delivery standards begin.
Court documents say Reed used false identification when asked, and would tell employees her law firm needed a lot of postage for a big mailing, or that she needed postage for a non-profit that sent care packages to U.S. troops, according to the justice department.
In total, the justice department said Reed stole $258,452.64 from the United States Postal Service.
“Our country depends on the postal service for many essential functions, including delivery to every residential and business address in the nation,” said U.S. Attorney Cole Finegan. “We will prosecute fraudsters that target the postal service to help ensure the integrity of this vital institution.”
The investigation was conducted by the United States Postal Inspection Service.
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