Washington, DC Man Sentenced for String of Armed Postal-Carrier Robberies in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC

Greenbelt, Maryland - A Washington, DC man is headed to federal prison for nearly two decades for robbing several United States Postal Service (USPS) mail carriers at gunpoint.

U.S. District Judge Lydia K. Griggsby sentenced DeAngelo Lewis, 30, to 17 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, after a federal jury convicted him of numerous charges during an eight-day trial in April. The charges stem from the 2022-armed robbery of seven mail carriers. The charges include the armed robbery of postal carriers; bank fraud; theft of mail; and using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the sentence with Postal Inspector in Charge Damon E. Wood, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) - Washington Division; Chief George Nader, Prince George's County Police Department (PGPD); and Chief Marc R. Yamada, Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD).

Evidence presented at trial established that beginning in January 2022, and continuing through at least October 2022, Lewis and his co-conspirators robbed seven mail carriers at gunpoint as they delivered mail in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. The co-conspirators obtained USPS property which allowed Lewis and his co-conspirators to steal personal and business checks that people placed in the mail. They then altered the checks and negotiated them at various banks, stealing almost $1 million of victims' money in the process.

According to trial testimony, as USPS carriers walked their routes, sorted mail in their trucks, or filled neighborhood cluster boxes, one or more masked individuals approached them. The individual(s) then pointed or flashed firearms and demanded the carriers' USPS property. During one encounter, a masked individual struck one carrier in the face even though the carrier already complied. Doorbell cameras or business CCTV systems captured at least two of the robberies.

Additionally, a black Mercedes sedan and a blue Dodge Challenger - which are cars Lewis was known to drive - were frequently seen leaving the scenes of those robberies. Navigation data seized from Lewis' phone also revealed that he searched for post offices near each of the robberies shortly before they occurred. Lewis used this information to begin searching for a mail carrier to target in that area.

Law enforcement identified Lewis and his co-conspirators after seeing them on bank surveillance cameras depositing stolen and altered checks at various bank-branch locations. Then, when law enforcement searched Lewis's Marlow Heights, Maryland, apartment, officers found approximately 1,500 checks, with a face-value of nearly $3 million, that he hadn't deposited at banks. The checks were sorted in envelopes based on where they were stolen from. Postal inspectors found at least 60 instances where Lewis already deposited checks worth nearly $1 million. Law enforcement also found check-altering materials and five of the seven stolen USPS properties in Lewis' nightstand or on the floor in the apartment.

Social media, along with a search of Lewis' phone, revealed that he recruited others to allow him to use their accounts to deposit stolen and altered checks in exchange for a percentage of the proceeds. Postal inspectors testified that recruiting others via Instagram, Telegram, and other platforms enables fraudsters like Lewis to deposit far more checks than they could get away with if they attempted to use their accounts.

On October 27, law enforcement arrested Lewis after officers observed him exiting a white Dodge Challenger. Lewis and two co-conspirators just finished stealing mail from three blue public-collection boxes in Potomac, Maryland. One of the co-conspirators was wearing a USPS shirt. Law enforcement found the sixth USPS property, which was robbed from a mail carrier only a week before in the same area, in the vehicle.

Co-conspirators Marking Long, 24, of Washington, D.C. and Enrico Hood-Jackson, 32, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, previously pled guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and bank fraud in connection with the scheme. Hood-Jackson also pled guilty to armed robbery and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Both co-conspirators are slated to receive their sentences later this year.

U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the USPIS, PGPD, and MCPD for their work in the investigation. Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Darren S. Gardner and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Jaskiw who are prosecuting the federal case.

For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office, its priorities, and resources available to report fraud, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-md.

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