Mail carrier who stole checks, money orders gets prison

PORTLAND — A mail carrier who stole thousands of dollars worth of cash deposits and money orders from her mail route was sentenced to four years in prison on Wednesday.

The Multnomah County District Attorney’s office said a jury convicted Jamie Dent, 38, after she stole over 100 pieces of mail from people along her mail route. She was convicted on 11 counts of mail theft and one count of aggravated identity theft. The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.

According to Deputy District Attorney Kate Williams, Dent likely stole mail for years before being caught and likely impacted at least 200 people across the United States.

“Ms. Dent — breaching the public’s trust — siphoned everything from rent checks to birthday and graduation cards for the explicit purpose of using our mail system to supplement a lifestyle she thought she deserved,” Williams said.

Authorities began investigating Dent in July 2018, when a representative of a national footwear company reported that someone had stolen cash deposits from the company’s Troutdale, Oregon, location. The company contracted with the U.S. Postal Service to deliver its cash deposits to the bank, and found that it had about $30,000 unaccounted for. After police found that another company on Dent’s mail route also had cash deposits go missing, they identified her as a person of interest.

Police got a search warrant for Dent’s home and found mail including money orders and personal checks addressed to people along her mail route. In one case, Dent had altered the name on a money order to pay a business where she boarded her horses.