Luzerne County Woman Sentenced For Stealing Checks From Mail Receptacles

On December 17, United States District Court Judge A. Richard Caputo sentenced 21 year old Niskauri DeJesus-Toribi of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to a time-served sentence of one day and two years of supervised release for stealing mail.
​
According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, DeJesus-Toribio was convicted of conspiring with others to steal checks from mail receptacles throughout Luzerne County, deposit the checks into accounts under their control, and withdraw the funds in cash.  As part of the sentence, Judge Caputo ordered DeJesus-Toribio to pay $16,310.91 to the victims of her crimes. 

DeJesus-Toribio’s co-defendant, Michael Mejia, was previously convicted and sentenced to approximately six months of imprisonment.

For some time, thieves have been stealing checks from mailboxes and erasing or altering the information on the check to make them payable to the thieves.

“It was happening in New York, Los Angeles, Miami,” said postal Inspector Reginald L. Wade Jr. “Recently, it seems to have found its way to this area.”

Postal inspectors are doing all they can to keep the mail safe, and older mailboxes are being replaced with ones that are more secure so items can’t be fished out.

Authorities  recommend writing checks with pens that have pigmented ink that cannot be erased and to use boxes that are in well-lit, high-traffic areas that thieves would have a hard time fishing from without being noticed.