OAKLAND — A city resident was sentenced this month to six years and five months in federal prison for robbing an Oakland mail carrier in 2021, court records show.
Javon Zachary, 34, was sentenced May 9 by U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam, after pleading guilty to gun charges and robbery, court records show. He was immediately remanded to the Bureau of Prisons service, and must be on supervised release for three years after his prison term is over.
Zachary was originally charged with two robberies, but prosecutors dropped charges as part of a plea agreement. In court filings, prosecutors quoted Zachary’s alleged explanation for robbing a postman, saying that Zachary told authorities he wanted to take the victim’s satchel, “Because if you dress up as a mailman, it keeps the investigators out because nobody knows what you really are.”
“It is particularly alarming that the defendant intended to impersonate a postal worker to carry out additional crimes following the armed robbery,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Kleiman said in court records, adding that Zachary’s crime occurred just 15 months after his release from federal prison for a gun conviction.