Postal worker sentenced to 4 years probation for taking cash, gift cards from residents’ mail

MILWAUKEE — Ebony Smith, a United States Postal Service worker, was sentenced in federal court on Wednesday, March 20 to four years probation. This, after pleading guilty to a charge of theft by postal employee. Smith was accused of taking thousands in cash, gift cards and checks from Wauwatosa residents’ mail.

Prosecutors say Smith took more than 6,000 letters from residents in two Wauwatosa ZIP codes. It was a special blue envelope that helped catch her in the act.

When residents in the neighborhood realized their greeting cards with cash inside weren’t getting delivered, the United States Postal Inspection Service began a deep dive into the mail. ZIP codes 53226 and 53213 were impacted; they were assigned to delivery woman Ebony Smith.