SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A Springfield, Illinois, man, Larry French Jr., 23, was sentenced on January 14, 2025, to eighteen months in federal prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release, for assaulting a United States Postal Service employee.
At the sentencing hearing before U.S. District Judge Colleen Lawless, the government presented evidence that on May 15, 2024, French punched a United States postal carrier in the face after the carrier attempted to stop French from battering his sister on a public street in Springfield. French was involved in a physical altercation with his sister in the roadway, which prevented the USPS carrier from driving through an intersection. When the carrier yelled that the police were going to be called, French approached the carrier and punched the carrier through an open window in the delivery vehicle. The carrier suffered injuries that will require corrective surgery.
At the hearing, Judge Lawless said that French acted irrationally when he punched the victim and that his actions caused the victim serious bodily injury. Judge Lawless noted that the victim acted as a Good Samaritan in stopping the initial attack and by trying to call law enforcement.
A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging French with the assault in July 2024, and French pleaded guilty in September 2024. He has remained in the custody of the United States Marshal since his arrest.
The statutory penalties for assaulting a federal officer are up to twenty years of imprisonment, up to three years of supervised release, and up to a $250,000 fine.
The United States Postal Inspection Service and the Springfield Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sierra Senor-Moore represented the government in the prosecution.
