Houston-area man sentenced to federal prison for stealing checks, other mail from USPS collection boxes – Houston Public Media

A Houston-area man was sentenced this week to nearly eight years in federal prison for repeatedly stealing checks and other mail from post office collection boxes, which he accessed using a special key intended for U.S. Postal Service employees, according to court documents.

Daruin Anelby Rosario, 28, pleaded guilty in March to possession of stolen mail, unlawful possession of a postal key and aggravated identity theft, using stolen mail for fraudulent purposes, according to court documents. In addition to being sentenced to 95 months in prison by Judge David Hittner, Rosario was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay more than $7,500 in restitution.

Rosario was already on probation when he was arrested last October, after pleading guilty in 2022 to possession of stolen mail and conspiracy to steal and possess stolen mail. Officers who searched Rosario’s home last fall found nearly 800 pieces of mail, about 1,400 checks and 12 postal keys or arrow keys, according to court documents, which show Rosario admitted to selling checks that he had cashed.

“An arrow key is a highly sought-after tool that criminals use to open USPS mail receptacles to steal mail to commit other crimes primarily related to financial crimes and identity theft,” federal prosecutors wrote in documents filed in the case.

Rosario’s court-appointed defense attorney did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Wednesday.

Court documents show that a postal inspector received a complaint last July from the Richmond Police Department about an increase in theft and counterfeiting cases, with victims reporting they had attempted to mail checks by dropping them in a blue collection box outside a USPS office in suburban Fort Bend County southwest of Houston. A motion detector and surveillance camera were then placed in the collection box, and days later, Rosario was seen arriving at night, opening the collection box and dumping its contents into his vehicle.

According to court documents, Rosario did the same thing five times at Richmond post offices between July and October 2023, which show authorities also found checks and credit cards not in his name during a search of a Katy apartment from which he had been evicted.