Five Admit Role in St. Louis Area Mail Theft

ST. LOUIS - Five people have admitted involvement in the theft of mail from St. Louis area collection boxes.

Roderick Orlandez Walker, 26, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis Thursday to one count of conspiracy, two counts of mail theft and one count of possession of stolen mail. He admitted involvement in the purchase of an arrow key from a mail carrier in the Marine Villa neighborhood in south St. Louis on July 20, 2023. Arrow keys are used to unlock mail collection boxes. Investigators traced the car the group was driving to a rental car company and learned that Marissa Diane Worthen and Walker rented it. Walker was armed at the time of the car rental. Evidence showed that Worthen, Walker and Yahtis Niquae Bailey were present at the arrow key purchase.

Walker also admitted being present when mail was stolen from a collection box in Ladue, Missouri on July 25, 2023. On Oct. 12, 2023, he used an arrow key to steal mail from a collection box in Frontenac, Missouri.

U.S. Postal Inspectors tracked the vehicle used by Walker and others to an Airbnb in the 5500 block of Chippewa Street in St. Louis, then followed the vehicle to a restaurant. Walker, Tommy Earl Kilbert and another person were in the car, where they also found an arrow key that had been reported lost by the Jennings, Missouri Post Office between June and July of 2023.

A subsequent court-approved search of the Airbnb found checks that had been stolen from the mail in various locations, a book of blank business-style checks and Walker's laptop, which contained check-writing software and messages about altering checks. Forensic examinations of the laptop and multiple cell phones used by the group revealed hundreds of images of checks believed to have been stolen from the mail. The total face value of the checks exceeded $2.2 million. Two company checks stolen from the mail in Brentwood were altered to be payable to two people in Florida and were cashed, costing the company $38,576.

Walker is scheduled to be sentenced on July 21. He faces up to five years in prison for each count and will be ordered to pay restitution.

Worthen, 38, of Atlanta, was sentenced to eight months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy and stealing keys adopted by the Post Office. Bailey, 26, of the Atlanta suburbs, was sentenced to 15 months on charges of conspiracy, stealing keys adopted by the Post Office and mail theft. Roderick Henry Gaines, Jr., 24, also of the Atlanta suburbs, was sentenced to 12 months and a day on the conspiracy charge. All three were ordered to pay restitution of $5,680

Kilbert, 27, of St. Louis, was sentenced to 12 months and a day for conspiracy, stealing keys adopted by the Post Office, possession of stolen mail and mail theft. His restitution is $39,786.

This U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Frontenac Police Department and the Ladue Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Torrie Scheider and Donald Boyce are prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.