A former U.S. Postal Service worker has been sentenced to 20 months in prison for stealing more than 20,000 pieces of mail.
Jeffrey L. Shipley, 48, of Millersville, Maryland, will also have three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $19,358.75 in restitution, United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein said.
Investigators found 20,413 pieces of mail in a search of Shipley's home and storage unit in March and April. Agents seized stolen gift cards, credit cards, passports, jewelry, a U.S. citizenship and immigration card, prescription medicines, checks, clothes, books and other items, prosecutors said.
Shipley pleaded guilty in federal court in July and also admitted to stealing Postal Service property from the Catonsville Carrier Annex worth more than $500. Items included stools, mail bags, signs and a mirror.
According to his plea agreement, he worked as a postal service carrier from 1993 until 2014 in Brooklyn, Parkville and Catonsville. He admitted to stealing mail starting in 2005 until 2014, the District Attorney said in a statement.
Prosecutors said the total loss from the stolen items was worth more than $10,000 and more than 250 people were victims.
