The men responsible for eight mail carrier robberies have entered guilty pleas, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.
Jerrad Coleman, 18, and Louis Dixon, 18, were charged in April.
Dixon pleaded guilty on June 26 to robbery of property of the United States and conspiracy to rob and unlawfully possess property of the United States. Coleman pleaded guilty to the same charges on July 2.
“The U.S. Postal Service and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service will never cease placing employee safety as one of our top priorities,” said Inspector in Charge Kai Pickens, Fort Worth Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
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“Let this serve as a warning to anyone who seeks to harm and traumatize our employees: The U.S. Postal Inspection Service will utilize every resource to find you and bring you to justice. I appreciate our partnerships with the U.S. Attorney’s Office as well as the Arlington Police Department, Dallas Police Department, Fort Worth Police Department, and Frisco Police Department, which assisted with the investigation into Mr. Coleman and Mr. Dixon,” Pickens said.
According to court documents, the men searched the streets the Dallas-Fort Worth area looking for U.S. Postal Service letter carriers to rob in hopes of obtaining an Arrow Key, a master key used by letter carriers to gather mail deposited in blue collection boxes.
Unauthorized possession of these keys allows individuals to illicitly access mailboxes to steal victim mail, checks, credit cards, bank account information, and other sensitive information, according to the DOJ.
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Over the course of about four months, the men conspired to commit robberies against U.S. Postal Service letter carriers, including those on Jan. 17 in Fort Worth, Jan. 18 in Fort Worth, Jan. 25 in Dallas, Jan. 29 in Dallas, March 15 in Fort Worth, March 28 in Arlington, April 4 in Frisco, and April 17 in Fort Worth.
After robbing the mail carriers, often at gunpoint, the men fled in getaway vehicles. They then unlawfully used, sold, or disposed of the Arrow Keys.
Both men now face up to 15 years in federal prison.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation with the help of the Arlington, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Frisco police departments.
