CHICAGO — A former U.S. Postal Service employee in Chicago has been indicted on federal charges for allegedly stealing government stimulus checks from the mail.
OLIVIA L. BRYANT, 33, of Chicago, is charged with three counts of theft from the U.S. mail. Bryant pleaded not guilty to the charges during her arraignment Monday in federal court in Chicago. A status hearing is set for May 13, 2022, at 1:00 p.m., before U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey.
The indictment was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Andre Martin, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Central Area Field Office of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General; and J. Russell George, Inspector General of the Treasury Department Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).
The indictment accuses Bryant of stealing three pieces of mail from her route in Chicago in March of last year. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Malgorzata Tracz Kozaka advised the Court during arraignment that the stolen mail contained government stimulus checks.
The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Each count in the indictment is punishable by a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.