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Fayette Woman Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement of U.S. Mail
Jackson, Miss – Tammy Barnes, 49, of Fayette, Mississippi, pled guilty on October 3, 2017, before U.S. District Judge David C. Bramlette III, to embezzlement of U.S. mail, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Harold Brittain and Special Agent in Charge Maximo Eamiguel, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Southern Area Field Office.
From March 13, through June 17, 2016, Barnes worked as a relief Highway Contract Route driver hired to transport mail from Jackson, Mississippi to local U.S. Post Offices in the Mississippi towns of Port Gibson, Lorman, Fayette, Union Church, Washington, and Natchez. Barnes admitted that, during that time, she unlawfully took packages from the U.S. mail stream that did not belong to her, keeping them at her residence and using the contents of those packages for her own use. The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG) received approximately 112 complaints of non-receipt of packages from residents along the described rural route. Barnes also admitted that she embezzled stamp stock, pre-paid envelopes, and other postal products, valued at approximately $12,560, that she was supposed to deliver to the U.S. Post Offices on her route.
Barnes is currently released on bond and will be sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge David C. Bramlette III on December 5, 2017, at 10:30 a.m. She faces a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
“The overwhelming majority of postal employees work very conscientiously to move the nation’s mail to its proper destination and it is a responsibility they take very seriously.
Unfortunately, a few abuse the public trust placed in them,” said Special Agent in Charge Maximo Eamiguel, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Southern Area Field Office. “Mail theft complaints will be vigorously investigated in order to ensure the protection of the U.S. Postal Service and its customers.”
The prosecution of Barnes is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Carla J. Clark and agents from the U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General.
