Current:Home > ScamsFormer Indiana postal manager gets 40 months for stealing hundreds of checks worth at least $1.7M -Streamline Finance
Former Indiana postal manager gets 40 months for stealing hundreds of checks worth at least $1.7M
View
Date:2025-04-16 04:01:10
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A former customer service manager at a U.S. Postal Service office in Indianapolis has been sentenced to 40 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to stealing hundreds of checks worth about $1.7 million that businesses had mailed.
James Lancaster, 42, fought back tears Wednesday after U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt sentenced him, saying the Indianapolis man’s actions warranted a significant sentence, including prison time, WTHR-TV reported.
“The defendant really has no excuse for his actions,” she told the court after announcing Lancaster’s sentence. Pratt added that Lancaster was in a position of trust at a busy post office but had shown “nothing other than greed and disregard of the victims.”
She also ordered Lancaster to pay more than $88,000 in restitution to his victims, saying that his actions had “seriously impacted” local businesses and also eroded trust in the U.S. Postal Service.
Prosecutors said Lancaster was the customer service manager at the New Augusta post office branch on Indianapolis’ northwest side when he began stealing mail containing checks in early 2021.
Court records show he stole at least 272 checks worth about $1.7 million dollars from 59 different businesses, including hospitals, utility companies and car dealerships, as well as charities and a cancer research center.
Lancaster pleaded guilty mail theft and conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
A co-conspirator, Jordan McPhearson of Blue Island, Illinois, was sentenced last year to 42 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
veryGood! (47)
Related
- EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
- Michigan’s tax revenue expected to rebound after a down year
- Google layoffs 2024: Hundreds of employees on hardware, engineering teams lose jobs
- 'Get wild': Pepsi ad campaign pokes fun at millennial parents during NFL Wild Card weekend
- 'We're reborn!' Gazans express joy at returning home to north
- 3 teens face charges in Christmas Day youth facility disturbance, Albuquerque sheriff says
- Quaker Oats recall expands: Various Cap'n Crunch cereals, Gatorade bars on list for salmonella risk
- Oregon Supreme Court keeps Trump on primary ballot
- What to watch: O Jolie night
- Michigan’s tax revenue expected to rebound after a down year
Ranking
- Who's hosting 'Saturday Night Live' tonight? Musical guest, how to watch Dec. 14 episode
- Sam's Club announces it will stop checking receipts and start using AI at exits
- 3 teens face charges in Christmas Day youth facility disturbance, Albuquerque sheriff says
- Colin Kaepernick on Jim Harbaugh: He's the coach to call to compete for NFL championship
- 'Squid Game' without subtitles? Duolingo, Netflix encourage fans to learn Korean
- Florida school district pulls dictionaries and encyclopedias as part of inappropriate content review
- Federal jury finds Puerto Rico ex-legislator Charbonier guilty on corruption charges
- As Vermont grapples with spike in overdose deaths, House approves safe injection sites
Recommendation
Pressure on a veteran and senator shows what’s next for those who oppose Trump
Former Pennsylvania defense attorney sentenced to jail for pressuring clients into sex
Outage map: thousands left without power as winter storm batters Chicago area
Sam's Club announces it will stop checking receipts and start using AI at exits
Former Syrian official arrested in California who oversaw prison charged with torture
Pat McAfee. Aaron Rodgers. Culture wars. ESPN. Hypocrisy. Jemele Hill talks it all.
Lawmakers may look at ditching Louisiana’s unusual ‘jungle primary’ system for a partisan one
Crash between school bus, coal truck sends 20 children to hospital