Eastern District of New York | Brooklyn Men Indicted for Crimes Relating to the Theft of Postal Keys and Other Offenses

A four-count indictment was unsealed today in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York charging Kevin Grant with being a felon, possession of ammunition, possession of five or more false identification documents and receiving stolen United States documents Postal Service (USPS). Arrow keys and possession of stolen mail. The indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in Brooklyn, New York on November 17, 2023 and relates to Grant’s alleged activities on October 3, 2023.

On October 31, 2023, Tyrone Santos was indicted by a grand jury in the Eastern District of New York for assault and robbery of two USPS mail carriers on September 30, 2023 and October 14, 2023, respectively, in their delivery routes within the East New York area of ​​Brooklyn. The indictment charges Santos with two counts for each robbery of a U.S. Postal Service employee and two counts for stealing those employees’ mail keys.

Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and Daniel Brubaker, Inspector in Charge, United States Postal Inspection Service, New York Division (USPIS), and Edward A. Caban, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD). the accusation is known.

“As these cases demonstrate, our office will use every tool available to prosecute those who harm our public servants or public services, whether breaking into a postal relay box, possessing a ghost gun or attacking postal workers,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Frieden. “I encourage everyone to educate themselves and take steps to protect their mail, and that bad actors recognize the consequences associated with these crimes.”

“Today’s indictment is an example of the Postal Inspectors’ commitment to sparing no resources to bring to justice those who violate the sanctity of the U.S. Postal Service, commit criminal acts against USPS mail carriers, and steal from the public.” Their reign of terror against our letter carrier has ended, and now they will face the justice they rightly deserve. I would also like to recognize the role of our USPIS NYPD Task Force Officers in this fight. Together and in cooperation with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, eight additional defendants were federally indicted last year on felony mail theft charges,” said New York Division Inspector in Charge Daniel B. Brubaker.

“The crimes outlined in these indictments reflect an unfortunate nationwide trend, and such acts will never be tolerated in New York City,” said NYPD Commissioner Edward A. Caban. “Together with our federal partners, the NYPD remains committed to using every resource at our disposal to protect the integrity of our Postal Service and eradicate violent crime in all its forms.”

To combat the increase in mail fraud crimes, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District shows how you can protect your mail with flyers translated into English, Spanish and Mandarin. Postal inspectors and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York encourage all victims of mail theft to report mail theft directly to the Postal Inspection Service. Each report is helpful in building effective cases against those responsible. You can report mail theft, identity theft, fraud or other crimes involving the U.S. Postal Service by calling the Postal Inspection Service’s national toll-free number at 1-877-876-2455 or by going to http://uspis.gov/report submit an electronic report.

USA vs. Grant

According to the criminal complaint previously filed against the defendant, on September 5, 2023, the defendant was observed in a black BMW 535 series sedan with Florida license plate #DEP3 involved in the unauthorized access of a USPS relay box in the Flatbush area of ​​Brooklyn (the “Subject BMW”). Similarly, on September 11, 2023, a vehicle that matched the BMW in question but had Pennsylvania license plate #MCR5107 was apparently captured on video surveillance also being involved in the theft of mail from a relay box in the Parkville neighborhood of Brooklyn.

On October 3, 2023, NYPD officers initiated a traffic stop on a BMW-related vehicle. As the officers approached the vehicle, the defendant, the sole occupant of the vehicle, rolled down his window, observed the officers and then fled in the vehicle. After a chase, the defendant exited the vehicle and fled on foot.

NYPD officers impounded the vehicle and conducted an inventory search where they discovered a personally manufactured firearm without a serial number (also called a “ghost gun”) loaded with 15 rounds of ammunition and an additional 39 rounds of ammunition.

Officers also found evidence related to the mail thefts, including the same Florida license plate #DEP3 that was observed on the BMW in question during defendant’s unauthorized access to the relay box on or about September 5, 2023. In addition, in a duffel bag in the vehicle, they found genuine postal arrow keys for the Flatbush and Parkville area, a postal uniform, mail addressed to people in the Flatbush area, and approximately 100 checks that did not belong to the defendant (some of which had apparently been issued). spread by residents of the Flatbush area).

In the same duffel bag, NYPD officers also discovered approximately five counterfeit Social Security cards with other people’s names on them, blank credit cards, credit cards with other people’s names on them, several identification documents with the defendant’s picture but with different names, and additional identification documents with additional pictures and names .

The charges are allegations only and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The government’s case is being prosecuted by the office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean M. Sherman is in charge of the prosecution, with the assistance of paralegal Stephanie Heyward.

USA vs. Santos

As alleged in the criminal complaint previously filed against the defendant, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) investigated two robberies of U.S. Postal Service mail carriers while they were in transit. Both robberies occurred two weeks apart, on September 30, 2023 and October 14, 2023, and had similar characteristics. In both robberies, surveillance footage shows a perpetrator with similar physical characteristics and clothing: a gray hoodie, black jeans and tan shoes. Additionally, in both robberies, this perpetrator surveilled young, slight female mail carriers on their mail routes and attacked them with a weapon – in the first robbery with what appeared to be a pipe and in the second robbery with a firearm – demanding their arrow keys and then fleeing from the crime scene. Both robberies occurred in a very limited geographical area, just four blocks apart, and the perpetrator fled to the same apartment building after both robberies.

The investigation led authorities to Santos, who was arrested on October 20, 2023, and charged with a federal criminal complaint for stealing a mail key from a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier. Santos was arrested without incident at his Brooklyn residence by the U.S. Marshals Service Regional Fugitive Task Force, U.S. Postal Inspectors and officers from the USPIS NYPD Task Force. Separately, USPIS NYPD Task Force officers arrested Santos on a charge of first-degree government robbery.

Santos was arraigned on the criminal complaint before United States Judge Taryn A. Merkl in federal court in Brooklyn on October 20, 2023 and ordered detained. He was charged as per the indictment on November 6, 2023. The charges are allegations only and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The government’s case is being prosecuted by the office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant United States Attorney Amanda Shami is in charge of the prosecution.

The defendants:

KEVIN GRANT
Age: 29
Brooklyn, New York

EDNY File No. 23-CR-477 (OEM)

TYRONE SANTOS
Age: 49
Brooklyn, New York

EDNY File No. 23-CR-436 (OEM)