CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A federal indictment was unsealed today in federal court, charging Dontavis Romario Truesdale, 27, of Charlotte, with conspiracy to commit financial institution fraud and theft of mail by a postal employee, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
Jeff Krafels, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Postal Service, Office of the Inspector General (USPS-OIG) for the Mid-Atlantic Area Field Office (MAAFO), Tommy D. Coke, Inspector in Charge of the Atlanta Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which oversees Charlotte, and Chief Johnny Jennings of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department join U.S. Attorney King in making today’s announcement.
According to allegations in the indictment, from November 2022 to April 2023, Truesdale worked as a processing clerk at the Ballantyne Post Office in Charlotte. The indictment alleges that Truesdale used his position as mail processing clerk to steal hundreds of checks of businesses that maintained post office boxes at the Ballantyne Post Office. The indictment further alleges that Truesdale sold the stolen checks to other co-conspirators who committed bank fraud, by depositing the stolen checks into bank accounts they controlled, and then quickly removed the funds before the banks detected the fraud. As alleged in the indictment, over the course of the scheme, Truesdale stole more than 200 checks with a total face value of over $1.9 million.
Truesdale was released on bond following his initial appearance in court. The bank fraud conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. The charge of theft by a postal employee has a statutory maximum penalty of five years in prison for each of the five counts charged in the indictment.
The charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law.
In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney King thanked USPS-OIG, USPIS and CMPD for their investigation which led to the charges.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jenny G. Sugar with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte is prosecuting the case.