A Springfield man has been convicted for his role in a string of mail thefts from the West Springfield Post Office.
Kenshaun Thompson, 26, faces up to 15 years in prison after a federal jury convicted him last Thursday (Aug. 15) of three charges of possessing and receiving stolen mail, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced.
According to an affidavit, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service began closely surveilling the West Springfield Post Office at 6200 Rolling Road in response to an “increase of mail theft complaints.”
Based on surveillance footage, a U.S. postal inspector determined that Thompson accepted stolen mail at least three times on Oct. 24-26 from a 33-year-old Annandale man who was seen taking the mail out of locked blue mailboxes outside the West Springfield Post Office.
The Annandale man, who’s identified by court documents as Adam Bekele, accessed the mailboxes using a stolen or counterfeit key.
“Investigators determined that at least one key which would be capable of opening the blue boxes located at the Post Office had been reported as lost or stolen and not recovered in the past,” the postal inspector said in the affidavit.
Bekele met Thompson at the Skyline Towers Apartments in Bailey’s Crossroads to transfer the stolen mail, which Thompson then delivered to an apartment rented in Bekele’s name, the affidavit says.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Bekele pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to commit mail theft. He faces up to five years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 3.
Thompson is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 5 by the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria.
Photo via Wesley Tingey/Unsplash
