NEWARK, NJ – An Essex County man, Parrish Brookins, who was employed as a letter carrier with the US Postal Service, has pleaded guilty today to stealing credit cards and checks from the mail. Brookins stole credit cards addressed to third-party victims and mailed to addresses in Verona and Montclair from January to September 2021.
The credit cards were activated and used to make fraudulent purchases in New Jersey and elsewhere. Brookins also stole numerous stimulus checks addressed to third-party victims in March 2021 and provided them to other individuals for a fee, knowing they would be fraudulently negotiated. The charge of mail theft carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine.
Brookins will be sentenced on August 15, 2023. The case was investigated by the US Postal Service – Office of Inspector General and the US Postal Inspection Service, with the assistance of the IRS – Criminal Investigation.