COLUMBUS, Ohio – A Columbus man was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 204 months in prison for four armed robberies of Postal carriers.
Thierno S. Bah, 22, of Columbus, used firearms and robbed postal carriers of their U.S. Postal Service keys on four occasions between December 2022 and May 2023. He was arrested in August 2023.
“Seventeen years in federal prison is a serious consequence in line with the seriousness of this type of violent crime. We have held numerous individuals accountable in the Southern District of Ohio in recent years for their crimes against United States Postal Service carriers who are simply doing their jobs. As a result of our focused efforts and the vigorous investigations by our federal law enforcement partners, we’ve seen a decrease in new assaults,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker.
Bah, who is also known as “Wopo” and “Wopoonese,” worked with others to steal service keys, which are then used to steal mail from USPS receptacles (a process known as “fishing”). Individuals then “cook” the mail by washing personal and business checks and other financial instruments to reflect new payees and new payment amounts. Bah and others would then recruit third parties to deposit the newly washed checks in their own accounts and split the profit.
The thefts occurred in Central Ohio on:
- Dec. 29, 2022
- Jan. 3, 2023 (two separate robberies on this date)
- May 11, 2023
Bah pleaded guilty in November 2023 and admitted to using a handgun to rob a postal carrier in German Village on Dec. 29, 2022. Bah pointed the handgun at the victim’s stomach and demanded his vehicle and service keys.
On Jan. 3, 2023, Bah pushed a postal carrier into her mail truck while she was sorting mail in the back of the truck on East Columbus Street. He then pushed a gun into the victim’s side before stealing her keys.
Later that day, Bah committed another armed postal robbery, this time in Whitehall. Bah approached the victim and pushed the handgun into her stomach before stealing her personal car keys and the USPS service keys.
On May 11, 2023, Bah robbed a Postal worker at the Post Office Retail Store on West Broad Street. Bah approached the victim while she was outside on a break. Bah asked the victim for her keys, and when she asked, “What keys?” he pistol-whipped her in the head with his handgun. Bah forcibly accompanied the victim into the post office to retrieve her service keys.
Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Elena Iatarola, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division; Lesley Allison, Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS); Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant; Westerville Police Chief Charles Chandler; and Whitehall Police Chief Mike Crispen announced the sentence imposed today by U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley. Assistant United States Attorney Noah R. Litton is representing the United States in this case.