CHICAGO — A man has been charged in federal court with robbing a United States Postal Service carrier at gunpoint in a Chicago suburb last week. A second man has been charged with firing shots at investigators near the scene of the robbery.
AHMEL HOLMES, 18, of Kankakee, Ill., robbed the postal carrier on Jan. 8, 2025, in Harvey, Ill., according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago. The postal carrier was on duty that morning delivering mail along East 158th Street near Union Avenue when Holmes approached her with a gun equipped with a drum magazine and demanded her belongings, the complaint states. Holmes then demanded and obtained access to the victim’s postal vehicle, from which he took a USPS tub containing mail, the complaint states.
Shortly after the robbery, two Postal Inspectors from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service were canvassing the area when they observed three individuals near an alley. When the inspectors moved toward them to speak with them, one of the men – JESUS SANTILLAN, 19, of Harvey, Ill. – pointed a handgun at the inspectors and fired shots, the complaint states. The inspectors were not wounded and did not return fire, but they chased Santillan into a nearby residence, where they arrested him, the complaint states. The inspectors also found Holmes in the residence and took him into custody.
Holmes is charged with armed robbery of a postal carrier, which is punishable by up to 25 years in federal prison. Santillan is charged with using a deadly and dangerous weapon to assault postal inspectors and impede performance of their official duties, which is punishable by up to 20 years.
A detention hearing for Holmes is scheduled for Jan. 14, 2025, at 1:30 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffery T. Gilbert. Santillan waived his right to a detention hearing at this stage of the case and was ordered to remain held in federal custody.
The complaint was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Ruth Mendonça, Inspector-in-Charge of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The Harvey, Ill. Police Department provided valuable assistance. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Maione.
The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
