Former Glastonbury Postal Carrier Admits Stealing U.S. Treasury Check from the Mail

David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ERNESTO RODRIGUEZ, JR., 31, formerly of East Hartford and currently residing in Tampa, Florida, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today in Hartford federal court to a charge related to his theft of a U.S. Treasury check from the mail while working for the U.S. Postal Service.

According to court documents, in 2021, Rodriguez, while employed by the U.S. Postal Service as a mail carrier in Glastonbury, was asked by an acquaintance to intercept federal tax refund checks that would be mailed to addresses on his mail carrier route. After taking the checks, he would deliver them to an unknown individual in New York and be paid approximately $100 for each check. Rodriguez gave his acquaintance information about his route so that refund checks could be sent to those addresses, and was subsequently provided with approximately 10 names and addresses for checks he was supposed to take from the mail.

In October 2021, Rodriguez stole a U.S. Treasury tax refund check in the amount of $4,943.17 from the mail before it was delivered to an address on his route. On October 23, 2021, he deposited the check into his wife's bank account. On October 25, 2021, he transferred $4,500 from his wife's account to his own bank account, and subsequently spent the money for personal use.

Rodriguez resigned from the U.S. Postal Service on October 23, 2021. He told law enforcement that he only stole one check as part of this scheme.

Rodriguez pleaded guilty to theft of public money, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years. He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford on September 24, 2025.

Rodriguez is released on a $15,000 bond pending sentencing.

This matter is being investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation Division, and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Neeraj N. Patel.