A U.S. postal inspector found a letter carrier in Florida had tampered with thousands of pieces of mail intended for a Florida retirement community.
In a criminal complaint filed on Jan. 4, U.S. postal inspector David Keith detailed how he found Miranda Farleigh, a 25-year-old former employee of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), had committed theft when she rifled through approximately 4,000 pieces of mail, all of which appeared to hold a holiday and/or greeting card.
Farleigh’s parents also played a role in the investigation, as both are also letter carriers. They found tubs of rifled mail in their daughter’s bedroom and car and reported it to the local Postmaster in late November last year. A few days later, Farleigh admitted to opening mail containing greeting cards in order to steal money and gift cards.
Keith’s complaint says that Farleigh went as far as admitting that she specifically targeted mail that was intended for a retirement community called The Villages, blaming a heroin addiction as the cause of her criminal behavior.
During an interview Keith conducted with one of Farleigh’s victims, an unnamed resident of The Villages confirmed they had sent $20 to each of their grandchildren. The envelopes were later recovered with no money inside.
