US Attorney's Office via North Texas E-News
DALLAS — A federal grand jury in Dallas has charged James R. Hamilton, a former lead sales and service associate with the U.S. Postal Service, with stealing mail matter, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas.
The one-count indictment, returned on December 4, 2007, charges Hamilton, 55, of Garland, Texas, with one count of theft of mail matter by officer or employee. According to the indictment, Hamilton stole a $200 Wal-Mart gift card from an insured mail package in February 2007. An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty, If convicted however, Hamilton faces a maximum statutory sentence of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and mandatory restitution.
In a similar, but unrelated case, Salvador Gonzalez, a former letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, pled guilty on December 4, 2007, to a one-count Information charging theft of mail matter by an officer or employee. On October 4, 2006, Gonzalez, 35, of Dallas, was stopped for speeding while on his way to work. At that time, he had approximately 2,000 pieces of delayed, undelivered mail, several hundred pieces of riled mail, and some of the contents of the rifled mail, in his possession. The rifled mail included numerous greeting cards, 50 blank checks, 23 checks payable to various people, a social security card, and 53 credit cards, none of which belonged to Gonzalez. Gonzalez admitted that he used some of the credit cards from the rifled mail and removed at least $500 in cash from the greeting cards. Gonzalez is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade on February 27, 2008. He faces a maximum statutory sentence of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and mandatory restitution to the victims.
U.S. Attorney Roper praised the investigative efforts of the U.S. Postal Service - Office of Inspector General. The cases are being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy J. Mitchell.
