PROVIDENCE – A U.S Postal Service seasonal employee on the job for one month during the 2023 holiday season has been sentenced to federal probation for his role in a scheme to steal the contents of U.S. mail, announced Acting United States Attorney Sara Miron Bloom.
Willie Estrella, 32, of Providence, was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy to three years of federal probation. Estrella pleaded guilty in November 2024 to conspiracy to steal mail and theft of mail by a postal employee.
According to court documents and information presented to the court, Estrella and others sorted through the mail at the Providence distribution facility and placed aside brightly colored envelopes of interest. They concealed the stolen mail in their backpacks that they carried from the postal facility. Estrella and co-conspirators met at a pre-determined location after work to open the stolen mail and remove cash, gift cards, and checks. They divided the proceeds among themselves.
This conduct occurred multiple times per week. During December 2023, when Estrella participated in the conspiracy, $95,000 in cash, gift cards, and checks were illegally removed from the U.S. mail stream and stolen by Estrella and others.
Charges are pending in U.S. District court against five other former postal employees.
The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie M. White.
The matter was investigated by the U.S Postal Service Office of Inspector General, with the assistance of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Providence Police Department, and Smithfield Police Department.
The public can report mail theft by contacting the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General hotline at 1-888-USPS-OIG (1-888-877-7644; online at www.uspsoig.gov/hotline; via email at Hotline@uspsoig.gov; or by mail at USPS OIG, Attn: OIG Hotline, 1735 North Lynn Street, Arlington, VA 22209-2020.
