Postal carrier used addresses from his California route to fuel COVID fraud, feds say

A former U.S. postal carrier was sentenced to 41 months in prison for his role in a California COVID-19 fraud scheme that prosecutors say stole more than $750,000, a federal judge has ruled.

The 33-year-old Palmdale man and a 26-year-old Valencia man who assisted him, who was also sentenced to 41 months in prison, must pay back hundreds of thousands of dollars, a Dec. 12 news release by the U.S. Attorney’s office for central California said.

The two men used addresses from the postal carrier’s route to apply for fraudulent COVID-19 aid from the state Employment Development Department, the release said.

The carrier then intercepted debit cards mailed to the addresses, prosecutors said. He also stole legitimate debit cards from the mail.

The scheme ran from August 2020 to June 2021, the release said. A search of his girlfriend’s residence found 37 pieces of EDD mail addressed to 15 different individuals

The second man, who lived on the carrier’s route, also took part in the scheme and spent some of the proceeds on Louis Vuitton, Prada and other luxury products, prosecutors said.

Valencia is a neighborhood in the city of Santa Clarita about 35 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

This story was originally published December 13, 2022 at 8:12 AM.