Sacramento County man convicted in armed robbery of postal carrier, mail theft conspiracy
A Sacramento County man has been convicted in federal court for his involvement in the armed robbery of a U.S. postal carrier in which the conspirators stole a master mailbox key and used it to steal mailed bankcards and checks.
Damian Deleal of Carmichael pleaded guilty Thursday to armed robbery of a U.S. mail carrier and bank fraud for the 2018 mail theft conspiracy, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento announced in a news release.
Deleal, 33, is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. on Oct. 7. Prosecutors said Deleal faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in federal prison and a $1 million fine for the armed robbery charge. He also faces and a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine for the bank fraud charge.
Deleal, who also is known as “Pony Boy,” was arrested three years ago along with alleged co-conspirators Jacey Alexandra Powell, Brandon Lee Moses and Loren Shawn Patrick. They were arrested after the March 9, 2018 robbery of the postal carrier in Carmichael, who was held at gunpoint.
Prosecutors said an unnamed co-conspirator forced the mail carrier to hand over the postal service key. Authorities have said the juvenile robber was brandishing a BB gun that looked like a real pistol.
Deleal and Powell gave the replica pistol to the juvenile, who walked up to the mail vehicle in Carmichael and brandished the weapon while approaching the postal carrier standing at the rear of the vehicle, according to a criminal complaint filed in 2018 in U.S. District Court Eastern District of California.
The complaint indicated the postal carrier was targeted in the robbery and only the carrier’s mailbox keys were stolen. In the following five days, the suspects stole reams of mail from boxes on area streets, forged checks, researched online the backgrounds of mail theft victims and tried to make purchases or bank withdrawals, according to the complaint.
Deleal, Powell, Moses and Patrick used the key to steal mailed bankcards and checks to make purchases and obtain cash, according to U.S. Attorney’s news release. As an investigation was launched, Deleal and Powell conspired to claim reward money offered for information about the robbery of the mail carrier and the stolen postal service key, prosecutors said.
Deleal and Powell planted the stolen mailbox key on Moses as he was sleeping in his car and they called the U.S. Postal Service to report Moses’ location and asked about the reward, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said investigators quickly made arrests and determined that Deleal orchestrated the conspiracy and related crimes. Moses, Patrick and Powell have already pleaded guilty to federal charges and have been sentenced, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Postal officials said the conspirators disposed of the evidence by burning the mail or burying it by mixing it with mud and human excrement. Authorities in the investigation used security camera videos of the suspects trying to make purchases with a stolen bank card and cash withdrawals, along with video of the mail carrier being robbed.
