A man who possessed stolen mail was sentenced on April 5, 2022, in federal court in Sioux City.
Tony Steece, 37, from Spencer, Iowa, pled guilty to three counts of possession of stolen mail on November 2, 2021.
At the plea hearing, Steece admitted that on November 26, 2020, he was in possession of three pieces of mail not addressed to him. Evidence further showed that on the morning of November 26, 2020, the Spencer Police Department responded to a citizen’s complaint that someone was stealing mail from a mailbox. Steece was caught with his hand in a mailbox and told police that he was returning mail. Steece then fled police when officers tried to arrest him on outstanding warrants, running multiple stop signs, driving 80-85 mph in a 25-mph zone while inside Spencer city limits, and driving 126 mph in a 65 mph outside of city limits. When apprehended, Steece admitted to stealing mail. At the time of Steece’s arrest, he had in his possession a number of other pieces of mail, including three checks worth more than $500 in total.
Steece has a lengthy criminal history, including the repeated and prolonged harassment of women that the sentencing court described as “disgusting” and “obnoxious.”
Sentencing was held before United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand. Steece was sentenced to 48 months’ imprisonment and must serve a 3-year term of supervised release following imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. Steece remains in custody of the United States Marshal until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Spencer, Iowa Police Department, and the Dickinson and Clay County Sheriffs’ Offices. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Forde Fairchild.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 21-4065. Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.