PORTLAND, Maine: An Orange, New Jersey man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Portland to burglarizing two Maine post offices and robbing at knifepoint two U.S. Postal Service (USPS) letter carriers.
According to court records, during a one-week period in January 2024, Winston McLeod, 31, and a coconspirator broke into the Paris and North Monmouth post offices and stole money order printers, mail, computers, post office box keys, and other items. The two men then robbed two Lewiston postal carriers in quick succession on January 20, 2024, threatening to stab each of them with a knife unless they turned over their postal keys.
The two men were arrested by law enforcement following a traffic stop. A search of the occupants and the vehicle, a white Jeep that matched a vehicle seen in videos from each crime scene, revealed a black butterfly knife, black ski mask, large sums of cash, and several checks determined to have been stolen from the Paris post office. When responding to the Paris location, Postal Inspectors also found two iPhones in the snow directly beneath the broken window used to access the post office. Investigators were able to identify McLeod through a photo of him on the lock screen of one of the phones. Law enforcement recovered additional stolen items at and near the address where the two men had been staying.
McLeod faces up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 on one charge of conspiracy to rob postal carriers and burgle a U.S. Post Office and two charges of burglary of a post office. He faces up to 25 years imprisonment and a maximum fine of $250,000 on each of two charges of robbery of a postal carrier. Any sentence will be followed by up to five years of supervised release. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case, with assistance from FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force and the Rumford, Lewiston, Paris and Monmouth police departments.
“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is committed to keeping the U.S. Mail, its employees, and customers safe. Today’s plea is the culmination of exceptional teamwork between our local and federal law enforcement partners. The swift response by responding officers and their ongoing support were instrumental in making this a successful investigation,” said Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division. “Ensuring the safety of our employees is a top priority, Postal Inspectors will continue to thoroughly investigate any robberies of our employees and burglaries of our facilities.”
