Two face federal charges in Clark County mail thefts

Two Clark County residents are facing federal charges relating to mail theft cases in Vancouver and the Prune Hill area of Camas, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said.

Brandy Jennings, 33, of Vancouver was arraigned in federal court in Tacoma on Monday on suspicion of aggravated identity theft, wire fraud and mail theft. Jennings was taken into custody earlier that day when a search warrant was served at her home, said Shannon Hall, a spokeswoman for the postal inspection service.

Shaun Lanham, 33, a transient, was arraigned on suspicion of aggravated identity theft, wire fraud and mail theft in a federal court in Tacoma on Wednesday. Lanham was taken into state custody several weeks earlier, Hall said.

The two are suspected to be involved in a recent string of mail thefts around the county.

“We have suspicion that they were involved with some of the mail theft together and also separately,” Hall said.

The postal inspection service worked with Vancouver police and the Clark County Sheriff’s Office to investigate the case.

“We saw a decrease (in mail theft) when Lanham was taken into state custody,” Hall said. She expects theft to continue to decrease with the two in custody.

Hall said Jennings was identified by tipsters after the postal inspection service offered a reward of up to $10,000 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for theft of mail from community boxes in the Prune Hill area of Camas.