USPS coin theft caught 1 1

[Jason Abshier]

Employee working at USPS caught red handed stealing thousands and thousands of dollars worth coins only to get a light slap on wrist 37 months prison sentence ! Should be in jail for a good 10+ years for breaking a federal crime like that!  

 

https://www.numismaticnews.net/us-coins/coin-thief-sentenced-to-federal-prison

Edited March 22 by Jason Abshier

[Henri Charriere]

Obviously, I do not have all the facts regarding the case, but I can offer a raft of possible explanations for what you term was "a slight rap on [the] wrist."

It takes a great deal of time and resources to investigate and prosecute a Federal criminal matter. There are many factors which enter into Federal criminal sentencing.  As 95% of all prosecutions end in a negotiated plea deal, it is safe to assume the defendant, having assessed the damning evidence mounted against her, wisely chose to avoid a trial and was convicted on entering a "knowing" and "voluntary" plea of guilty. She presumably pled guilty rather than being found guilty and convicted after trial. Big difference. Another factor which appears to have militated greatly in her favor was cooperation. Acceptance of a plea deal is conditional on cooperation. (Tommy Thompson of shipwreck fame found that out the hard way.)  The final consideration is recovery of the stolen goods and, I would imagine, forfeiture of assets. The defendant played her hand well.  (Ironically, there is a Federal penitentiary complex in Beaumont, Texas.) There are far more egregious examples of the exercise of discretion in Federal sentencing matters. Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, John Gotti's right-hand man in a crew affiliated with the Genovese faction of organized crime, pleaded guilty to 19 murders and never served a day in prison beyond the nearly five years he spent in pre-trial detention. His testimony, which resulted in the imprisonment of some 37 associates, including Gotti, who died in prison, was deemed to be an acceptable tradeoff. Although I do not know for fact, I would imagine the defendant faced a multi-count indictment (and a superseding indictment) enumerating each of her crimes carrying their own terms of imprisonment which she likely was advised by her attorney, could be imposed consecutively. She played her hand well such is the nature of sentencing on the Federal level.

[Posted at the discretion of Moderation.]

[GoldFinger1969]

So NGC has a stolen-reporting system.....but PCGS does not ?

[Henri Charriere]

On 3/22/2024 at 10:00 AM, GoldFinger1969 said:

So NGC has a stolen-reporting system.....but PCGS does not ?

Their slabs come with embedded chips [NFT] and, of course, they have certification numbers. It was the entry of the NGC certification number which triggered the alert. I would assume the same would occur with a PCGS slab as you cannot add a coin to their Set Registry until ownership is verified.

[GoldFinger1969]

I'm usually a strong-defender of private property rights, but in this case I hope she lost her lucrative pension from the USPS.  Or it is being seized to pay off the amount she stole.

If she worked for them for 30 or more years, could be $50,000 per year or more.  Of course, she could be one of the derelicts the USPS and the other delivery systems has hired without doing background checks the last 5 years or so.

Edited March 23 by GoldFinger1969

[Coinbuf]

Glad she was caught, have to agree with Jason that the sentence seems rather light for the crime.

[numisport]

On 3/22/2024 at 1:23 PM, Coinbuf said:

Glad she was caught, have to agree with Jason that the sentence seems rather light for the crime.

Yes certainly when you consider how much time and resources were used up in solving this crime. If you add up all the pain endured by owners that lost this property, or if it was all Universal Coin property it doesn't matter. It's a Felony crime. Pay the price.

[Henri Charriere]

On the continuum of all possible crimes that can be committed Federally, from violent crimes against the person to crimes against property, theft of this kind, on the lower end, are non-violent and white collar-ish in nature. In the absence of specific information, I would have to believe only the prosecutors representing the people in the name of the USA, the office that prepared the pre-sentence investigation (PSI) and the sentencing judge, likely know best whether justice was done. I cannot comment because I do not know.

[GoldFinger1969]

On 3/22/2024 at 1:23 PM, Coinbuf said:

Glad she was caught, have to agree with Jason that the sentence seems rather light for the crime.

Multiple thefts.....grand larceny...and use of the mails plus other violations.

Was she tried by Alvin Bragg ? 

[Jason Abshier]

Reading the article it stated her son was selling the coins to a local dealer … but authorities were not able to arrest the son due to fact he died …. Wondering if her son was a drug addict ? Sure seems like that why she was stealing valuable items for son drug addictions? …. Either way two wrongs don’t make a right 

[Jason Abshier]

Brings me to another subject … always always take pictures of your graded coins in your collection keep stuff on flash drive never know when theft will happen you’ll be glad you got those pictures with cert numbers alert NGC and PCGS and local authorities with all stolen coins and cert #s …. Now a raw coin collection ? It’s lost after a theft 

[GoldFinger1969]

On 3/23/2024 at 8:41 AM, Jason Abshier said:

Reading the article it stated her son was selling the coins to a local dealer … but authorities were not able to arrest the son due to fact he died …. Wondering if her son was a drug addict ? Sure seems like that why she was stealing valuable items for son drug addictions? …. Either way two wrongs don’t make a right 

Worked in a hamburger joint and if you see his picture....looks like he wouldn't know the face value of a dime, let alone the market value of 5-figure coins.

Surprised the dealer didn't put 2 and 2 together alot faster. 

Edited March 23 by GoldFinger1969

[powermad5000]

On 3/23/2024 at 7:45 AM, Jason Abshier said:

always always take pictures of your graded coins in your collection keep stuff on flash drive

I started this from day 1 when my first slabs came back. I also maintain a dinosaur handwritten copy and also a dinosaur book with each coin logged into it. So, if you were to somehow get into the bank safe deposit box and steal my coins, you are never going to find all three of my logging systems.

It is people like this that make my blood boil. I agree the punishment is not harsh enough. I think if the justice system wants to leave it at that, then if it is possible for all the coins to be traced back to a respective source, then each one of those sources, one by one, should file separate criminal lawsuits. If the feds can't make the punishment fit, then it should be possible for the individuals to combine into a whole to make the rest of her life as miserable as it could possibly be.

I am a nice guy, but when it comes to stuff like this, all of my nice goes out the window.

[GoldFinger1969]

On 3/22/2024 at 1:23 PM, Coinbuf said:

Glad she was caught, have to agree with Jason that the sentence seems rather light for the crime.

Grand Larceny ?  Or is that not total thefts but single acts ?  

They ASKED for or had authority to impose much longer sentencing....but apparently let a plea deal take effect.  Not sure why, since the plea cut the sentence by 80% and they had her dead-to-rights.

Maybe they felt sorry for her because her son/accomplice died. 

[Henri Charriere]

On 3/23/2024 at 8:41 AM, Jason Abshier said:

Reading the article it stated her son was selling the coins to a local dealer … but authorities were not able to arrest the son due to fact he died …. Wondering if her son was a drug addict ? Sure seems like that why she was stealing valuable items for son drug addictions? …. Either way two wrongs don’t make a right 

I have been following law and criminal justice developments now for 60 years and in all that time I have never come across a case of a mother stealing to support her son's drug addiction. If anything, the reverse is true: sons and daughters who were disowned by their parents -- and one notable case where a mother killed her daughter and the community closed ranks behind her in an unusual display of support. (I believe she was a retired postal worker.)

[Coinbuf]

On 3/24/2024 at 12:34 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

Grand Larceny ?  Or is that not total thefts but single acts ?  

They ASKED for or had authority to impose much longer sentencing....but apparently let a plea deal take effect.  Not sure why, since the plea cut the sentence by 80% and they had her dead-to-rights.

Maybe they felt sorry for her because her son/accomplice died. 

Doubtful anyone felt sorry for her, more likely a problem with overcrowding in the penial system due to all the migrant issues that plague the southern states.

[Henri Charriere]

On 3/24/2024 at 7:27 PM, Coinbuf said:

Doubtful anyone felt sorry for her, more likely a problem with overcrowding in the penial system due to all the migrant issues that plague the southern states.

The peak years for overcrowding in the Federal prison system have long since passed. They have closed all the private "contract" institutions. There is plenty of space. The emphasis post-crack era is on recovery of property and assets forfeiture.