Former Placerville Postal Employee Pleads Guilty to Stealing and Tampering with the Narcotic Medications of United States Military Veterans

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Carrie Wallace, 47, of Pollock Pines, pleaded guilty Monday to tampering with a consumer product and mail theft by a postal employee, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.

According to court documents, Wallace used her position as a U.S. Postal Service employee to access and steal mail parcels containing prescription medication and vape products. She intentionally targeted packages sent by the Department of Veterans Affairs to its patients because those packages generally contained narcotic medications. Wallace cut into the packages, opened the prescription narcotics medication bottles, stole the medication and replaced it with over-the-counter medication, retaped the packages and placed them back in the mail stream to be delivered to the intended recipients. Multiple veteran victims consumed the tampered medication, putting them at risk of injury for taking incorrectly dispensed drugs. Due to Wallace's medication theft and tampering, veteran victims experienced extreme pain, increased agitation, anger, and other mental health symptoms.

The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General and the VA Police Department conducted the investigation. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Moody is prosecuting the case.

Wallace is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd on Aug. 10, 2026. Wallace faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.