Tag: usps

Ballots Found in Santa Cruz Mountains Now in Hands of Federal Investigators

Postal inspectors in Washington, D.C. have now joined the investigation into completed ballots reportedly found down a ravine in the Santa Cruz mountains.

According to some of the people whose ballots were recovered, their ballots were delivered at the post office on Payne Avenue in west San Jose – which is now a starting point for the investigation.

Several voters said they mailed those ballots using the drive-thru mailbox at the aforementioned location because the post office lobby is closed on weekends. Now, that mail box is out of service.

Taking a closer look reveals the mailbox lock is missing.

Local post officials told NBC Bay Area they can’t comment on specifics since it is now being headed up by postal officials in Washington, D.C.

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US Postal workers arrested in $1.3 million fraud and identity theft scheme, authorities say

Three US Postal employees are among four people arrested in connection with a $1.3 million fraud and identity theft scheme allegedly carried out in New York and New Jersey since 2018, according to the Department of Justice.

A further five people facing changes in connection with the case remain at large, it said.

The individuals are accused of stealing credit cards from the mail and using them to buy merchandise at a variety of stores, including high-end retailers in New York and New Jersey, authorities said.

They are then said to have sold some of the merchandise on the website LuxurySnob.com, according to a statement from the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

US postal workers Nathanael Foucault, Johnathan Persaud, Fabiola Mompoint, and civilian Devon Richards were arrested on Thursday, according to the statement.

Officials said five other people face charges, including Conspiracy to Commit Access Device Fraud, Access Device Fraud, and Aggravated Identity Theft charges, and each face lengthy prison sentences if found guilty.

“The defendants took advantage of the public trust we place in US Postal Service employees for their own financial gain,” US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. “Thanks to the diligence of USPIS (the Postal Inspection Service), the NYPD, and USPS-OIG (the Office of the Inspector General), the defendants will now be held accountable for their brazen criminal conduct.”

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USPS spied on ‘MAGA’ protesters, right-wing groups, gun rights activists, documents show

The U.S Postal Service spied on ‘MAGA’ protesters, gun rights activists and other right-wing groups between late 2020 and early 2021, according to records obtained by The Washington Times. ‘MAGA’ is former President Donald Trump’s slogan meaning “Make America Great Again.”

Patrick Eddington, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, obtained heavily redacted files detailing the USPS’ surveillance activities from September 2020 to April 2021, which included a secret effort to surveil social media known as the Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP).

The USPS monitored the activities of gun rights activists, protesters planning to demonstrate against police in Louisville, Kentucky after the shooting of Breonna Taylor, and right-wing groups traveling to Washington, D.C. after the 2020 election. 

Eddington said the documents demonstrate the USPS’ surveillance capabilities.

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Former US Postal Service employee was removed from Georgia’s sex offender registry only to re-offend months later

Stacy Keith Wisener was removed from Georgia’s sex offender registry in 2017 by a Paulding County Superior Court judge. A few months later, Wisener began sexually molesting an 11-year-old girl. The abuse continued for approximately four years, the Justice Department reported.

The now 60-year-old former U.S. Postal Service employee was sentenced to three decades in prison for abusing the young girl, producing child pornography, and stealing mail.

“Wisener’s decision to continue to exploit children, even after working to get off the sex offender registry, now puts him in prison for decades,” said Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta.

Wisener was placed on Georgia’s sex offender registry in 2003 after he pleaded guilty to molesting a child under the age of 16. For that crime, Wisener dodged jail time and was instead sentenced to probation.

Wisener remained on the registry for 14 years. He petitioned the court in 2017, asking to be removed from the list, and his request was granted. A few months later, Wisener began abusing his next underage victim.

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‘I’m A Pedophile’: Biden-Era USPS Chief in Mail-In Ballot Unit Arrested After Trying To Meet Teen Boy For Sex.

Ahigh-level U.S. Postal Service official appointed under President Joe Biden was caught during a child sex sting, admitting “I’m a pedophile” on camera.

Russell Rappel-Schmid, the Chief Data Officer for the U.S. Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), was caught in San Diego, California attempting to meet a 14-year-old boy for sex.

The PRC is responsible for overseeing the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) – which deals with mail-in ballots during election season – and Rappel-Schmid was tasked with running the commission’s data management and compliance with the OPEN Government Data Act.

While federal authorities have not yet confirmed the man in the video is Rappel-Schmid, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department announced that Rappel-Schmid was released from the city’s Central Jail early Tuesday morning after being arrested on Monday. His felony arraignment is set for next Monday.

Rappel-Schmid was reportedly in San Diego for a business conference when he allegedly tried to meet what he thought was a 14-year-old boy for sex. The People vs Predators group filmed the encounter, and Rappel-Schmid can be seen admitting “I’m a pedophile.”

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The U.S. Postal Service’s Insatiable Appetite for Taxpayers Dollars

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) just got more than $100 billion in taxpayer assistance through the Postal Service Reform Act. It is licking its chops for billions more as Congressional Democrats and the Biden Administration work to serve up a smorgasbord of new programs and funding schemes.

USPS was once the federal government’s most responsible steward of taxpayer funds, with a focused public service mission, delivering the mail.   

Under the 1970 Postal Reorganization Act, USPS is required to be self-supporting with the sales of postage and services covering the costs of operations. And from 1970-2006 it was, operating with a cumulative surplus of $3 billion during this time.

The rise of the Internet and a requirement to set aside funds for future retiree health benefits led to chronic losses at USPS starting in 2007. Some Republicans saw the Postal Service Reform Act (PSRA), signed into law April 6, as the reset button to provide USPS with financial assistance so that it could return to a focused mission and be self-supporting.

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Postal Inspectors Have Used iPhone Hacking Tools Hundreds of Times

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) owns sophisticated hacking tools that can breach iPhones, and has used them hundreds of times over the last several years, according to USPIS records.

Law enforcement’s use of hacking tools such as Cellebrite and GrayKey has attracted considerable attention in recent years, particularly following reports that the FBI used the Israeli-based Cellebrite to help access the iPhone belonging to San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook—though there has since been reporting to the contrary. More recently, records obtained by Vice Motherboard last year revealed how police departments use GrayKey.

The use of such tools by the USPIS, the law enforcement arm of the Postal Service, is disclosed in its 2019 and 2020 annual reports, but has gone largely unpublicized until now. The Epoch Times has also reviewed an internal Postal Service letter, which shows that one technician in the USPIS digital evidence unit used GrayKey to crack more than 150 iOS devices—iOS being the mobile operating system for the iPhone.

Altogether, the records suggest that the USPIS has cracked hundreds of iPhones—generally thought to be one of the most secure commercial phones on the market—as well as other devices.

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Post Office’s Law Enforcement Arm Is Expanding Its Surveillance Powers

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has announced plans to provide its law enforcement branch with access to its vast trove of customer data, raising concerns among privacy activists about the organization’s expanding surveillance powers.

The USPS came under scrutiny in 2021 when it was revealed that its law enforcement arm, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), was monitoring both left- and right-wing protest groups on social media. Multiple nonprofit organizations sued the USPS, seeking internal records about its surveillance program and questioning the legality of such activities.

Those lawsuits haven’t stopped the Postal Service from seeking additional surveillance powers. On Dec. 17, 2021, the USPS announced that it intended to provide customer data to USPIS investigators.

“USPIS will collect and aggregate eight data elements—Name, Address, 11-Digit Delivery Point ZIP Code (ZIP 11), Phone Number, Email Address, Tracking Number, IP Address, and Moniker,” the Postal Service stated.

According to the USPS, the influx of new data will allow postal inspectors to conduct “link analysis,” using data analytics to discover patterns and trends in criminal activity.

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USPS mail carriers allegedly stole credit cards as part of huge identity theft ring

Four US Postal Service mail carriers — including three from New York City — are accused of stealing credit cards from the mail as part of a $750,000 identity theft ring, prosecutors said.

The postal workers and nine other suspects were indicted in Manhattan Supreme Court on conspiracy, grand larceny and a litany of other charges over the scheme that took place between January 2017 and August 2019, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

The federal employees, who were recruited by 37-year-old ringleader Michael Richards, of Manhattan, allegedly swiped over 1,000 credit cards that were then used by another defendant to buy high-end goods at luxury retailers, prosecutors said.

“Richards paid the mail carriers different amounts depending on how well the cards they stole performed,” the DA’s office said in a press release.

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