ST. LOUIS –Two men have admitted the armed robbery of three U.S. Postal Service letter carriers in St. Louis County in 2022 as part of a conspiracy to steal checks from the mail.
Xavier Sean Boyd, 20, of Jennings, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis Wednesday to three counts of robbery and two counts of possession and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a robbery.
Roy Lee Jones, 22, pleaded guilty August 13 to one count of robbery, one count of theft of a mail key and one count of possession and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a robbery.
Both men admitted being part of a group of five young adults who in the summer of 2022 engaged in a conspiracy to steal checks from the mail, illegally alter the checks and deposit them into the accounts of third parties.
“This guilty plea is a testament to the hard work and dedication by Postal Inspectors and our local partners in bringing perpetrators of violent crimes to justice,” said Acting Inspector in Charge, John Jackman, who leads the St. Louis Field Office of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. “The Postal Inspection Service will relentlessly pursue criminals who victimize the general public and postal customers.”
A masked Boyd robbed a U.S. Postal Carrier at gunpoint on June 1, 2022, on Chambers Road in St. Louis County, stealing the “arrow” key that opens collection boxes.
The group then used that key four days later to steal mail from collection boxes in Berkeley, West Florissant, Normandy, Overland and Ferguson. They were unsuccessful in recruiting third parties to allow their bank accounts to be used, so Boyd and Jones used their own. On June 7, 2022, they deposited $19,199.60 in stolen checks into Jones’ credit union account. They next day, they tried to withdraw $19,200, but only obtained a total of $8,500. The remainder was reclaimed when the fraudulent deposits were discovered. They deposited an unknown amount in Xavier Boyd ‘s bank account but were not able to withdraw any of the stolen funds.
On the afternoon of June 9, Boyd was driving his mother’s SUV when Jones robbed another postal carrier of his arrow key. Boyd robbed a third carrier less than 20 minutes later, but the carrier noted the license plate of Boyd’s mother’s car and police spotted the vehicle within minutes.
After a high-speed chase, Boyd crashed the SUV and both men fled, carrying pistols. Police tackled Boyd within feet of the SUV and arrested Jones on the front steps of a nearby day care center.
Jones is scheduled to be sentenced on November 15. Boyd is scheduled to be sentenced December 18.
The robbery charge is punishable by up to 25 years in prison. The theft charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The firearm charges carry a penalty of at least seven years, consecutive to all other charges.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the St. Louis County Police investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Dunkel is prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.