BOSTON (WWLP) – A Florida man pleaded guilty in federal court on Thursday afternoon, in connection with fraudulent abuse of the U.S. Postal Service’s Informed Delivery system.
According to the office of U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling, 28-year-old Fred Alcius of Lauderhill, Fla., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft, he is scheduled for sentencing on March 26.
The Informed Delivery system is a free electronic notification service provided by the USPS that gives residential and P.O. Box customers the ability to digitally preview their incoming mail and manage their packages.
According to Lelling, in June Alcius was indicted along with co-defendant Lucson Appolon, who had pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years in prison. Co-conspirators Peter Belony and Kevens Louis were sentenced to 24 and 27 months in prison.
Alcius, Belony, Louis and Appolon accessed victims’ personal identifying information, including names, social security numbers, dates of birth, and addresses on the “dark web” and then used the information to open credit cards in the victims’ names.
Lellign said, after that they tracked the delivery of credit cards to the victims’ residential mailboxes and took the credit cards before the victims could receive them, to use them at ATMs and purchase gift cards and other items for resale at Apple and Walmart. They traveled to states up and down the East Coast, including Maine and Massachusetts.