A former Postal worker from Jefferson pleaded guilty to mail obstruction charges on Thursday.
Markeyta McAllister, 30, was charged with obstruction of United States mail after stealing cash and gift cards from more than 15 letters, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia.
“While most U.S. Postal Service employees serve Americans with integrity and honesty – McAllister did not,” said U.S. Attorney BJay Pak. “By opening peoples’ mail to steal money and gift cards, McAllister betrayed both the citizens she supposedly served and the reputation of her fellow employees.”
Pak said McAllister, from July 7, 2014 to December 3, 2019, was working as a mail-processing clerk and was assigned to the postal facility in Duluth in Gwinnett County. All postal employees pledge to "preserve and protect the security of all mail in [their] custody" including tampering, delay and destruction. McAllister said she fully understood that tampering, etc., was a crime.
Pak said on more than one occasion, McAllister took prepaid Visa cards and used them, including once at the Kroger in Jefferson, which was caught on surveillance footage.
In a recorded statement on December 3, 2020, McAllister admitted to the mail theft. And, in a search of her vehicle, federal agents found two gift card sleeves, three prepaid cards, store receipts with prepaid and gift cards used as the payment method and two unopened letters not addressed to McAllister.
“The majority of postal employees are hard-working public servants dedicated to moving mail to its proper destination,” U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General Special Agent in Charge Imari R. Niles said. “Unfortunately, McAllister decided to betray the public’s trust and steal from postal customers. This plea demonstrates that USPS OIG special agents take these cases seriously, and that postal employees who steal mail are throwing away their careers and could end up in jail.”
The U.S. Postal Service – Office of Inspector General is investigating the case, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey W. Davis is prosecuting the case.
