#united states postal inspection service

[insanelyadd]

Craziest/coolest crime story you know about the USPS?

The United States Postal Inspection Service has existed in some form longer than the united states itself has, when Benjamin Franklin appointed the first "surveyor" over oversee the mail (make sure there were no mail crimes happening) in, I think, 1772. They have a conviction rate of 98% which is probably because if you're dumb enough to do mail crimes and it's discovered I mean. If you do mail crime and no one ever learns about it, obviously you can't be charged, if you do mail crime and it's discovered and you get CAUGHT then I think the conviction rate is probably so high because they just have you dead to rights.

A fun fact related to mail crimes: The reason spam mail is listed as "To our friends at (address)" or "(name) or current resident" is because it is ILLEGAL to open mail for someone else. The only way they can mail out the coupons or whatever they might be selling to as many people as possible, and for it to be legal for the recipients to open it, is for who it's addressed to to be vague.

Annual reminder than if you think/know someone is stealing/damaging/destroying your mail then you can try to get in contact with your local postal inspector. They take these crimes very seriously, and it is a federal felony (in the US) called "Obstruction of Correspondence"

As for the craziest mail crime??? A person from the Postal Inspector Forensics Lab (probably not the actual name) was the person who realized all the bombs sent by the unabomber were the same person, and this is part of what led to his arrest. I don't know how much everyone is familiar with that case but he sent the bombs by mail.

Other than that the anthrax attacks in 2001 were done by mail, though I am not super familiar with it and couldn't tell you how crucial the Postal Inspectors were in figuring out the case.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Talk about direct mail.

All 25 Republican members of the Ohio State Senate were mailed envelopes filled with feces on Thursday morning, according to the Columbus Dispatch. The packages had been sent from a Cleveland post office, according to the Dispatch. 

All the envelopes were intercepted by post offices in Cleveland, Akron, and Columbus before the legislators actually received them, and the United States Postal Inspection Service told VICE News Friday it was investigating.

“As the law enforcement and security branch of the Postal Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service is committed to protecting Postal Service employees and customers and preserving the integrity of the mail,” a spokesperson said in an email. “The Postal Inspection Service is investigating these incidents. At this point in time, this is all the information we can provide.”

A spokesperson for the Senate Republican caucus said Thursday that “we’re assuming human,” when asked by a reporter about whether the poop came from a human or an animal.

“I’m really angry about it,” the spokesperson, John Fortney, told ABC 9 in Cincinnati. “These are a bunch of little scared, little cowards that wouldn’t say shit or a thing to you face-to-face, right, they would rather send it in the mail.”

“It’s gross and stupid, immaturity at its highest level,” state Sen. Jay Hottinger, one of the intended recipients, told the Dispatch.

At least one lawmaker told reporters Thursday that she believes the poopy packages have something to do with the recent Supreme Court decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which eliminated the federal right to have an abortion.

As a result of the ruling, abortion effectively became illegal in Ohio in all instances except to save the life of the mother, following a law passed in 2019. A 10-year-old girl who’d been raped was recently forced to travel to Indiana to get an abortion, the Indianpolis Star reported last week.

GOP State Sen. Kristina Roegner called this a “highly charged and emotional issue.”

“There’s passion on both sides,” Roegner told ABC 9. "But we need to engage in civil discourse.”

Of the poop, Hottinger told the Dispatch: “Just another crappy day.”

A former swing state won by former President Barack Obama twice, Ohio has shifted drastically to the right in recent years. The GOP candidate for U.S. Senate, J.D. Vance, said there was “something comparable between abortion and slavery,” during an interview with a Catholic radio show last year.

“I really think abortion has really done something very socially destructive to us as people in how we see the most vulnerable and the most dependent among us,” Vance said during the radio show. “I think that’s one of the underappreciated facts about abortion. It’s really distorted our entire society.”

[vaspider]

So, super fun fact, if you receive threatening physical mail, it is actually extremely easy to report to the United States Postal Inspection Service.

The USPIS has a hotline, so if someone sends you - let's say - a physical letter containing a death threat, you can call the number at that link and report it.

[apas-95]

the more well-known the agency confronting you is, the less trouble you're usually in. like if it's the cops at your door, it could just be a noise complaint. FBI might just be there for tweets. obviously, still bad, but... here, a comparison. if you have a run in with the CIA you're probably in trouble, but if you have a run in with the Office of Naval Intelligence then you've definitely fucked up. did you know the USPS has its own investigative force? and you might be thinking like, oh, as in some dudes in baby blue button-ups who search for missing mail - but no, these are uniformed, armed federal agents with all the authority that entails. they've got squad cars and such. and, like, these guys are serious. back in the late '80s to the early '90s, when electronic mail sorting first started to be rolled out, there were consistent issues with the machines having trouble scanning letters. it wasn't a super common problem, but it happened a lot, in multiple states. anyway, the USPS eventually realised two things - first, that the problems persisted even after the machines themselves were replaced (at great expense); and second, that they were really limited to michigan and some surrounding states, with only rare occurrences elsewhere which might be unrelated. anyway, that was enough to get the United States Postal Inspection Service to take interest. if somebody was sending dangerous materials though the mail which were messing with the scanning machines, it was probably endangering postal workers too. this was pre-9/11, so the idea it was terrorism wasn't taken too seriously, and the investigation didn't get much support. anyway, it takes months of waiting for machines to break down, cataloguing the mail they'd been handling, cross-referencing it, etc, to narrow down the source of the mail to somewhere south of detroit. kinda goes cold for a while, since the mail's scanned in big batches and finding the common link takes a *lot* of data and work. anyway it's like october '91 now and they think they've finally got it. they've found a specific batch that's tripping the machines up, and they're going over it with a fine-tooth comb when an agent's pager starts freaking out. after experimenting, they realise that whatever's fucked with the scanning machines has also fucked with the pager, and they realise it might be putting out radiation. biiig 'oh shit' moment. they isolate the whole batch and get a big medical checkup, but they're alright. geiger counter picks up nothing. what they *do* find, however, is that there are like 60 letters in there that are each putting out small amounts of non-ionising EM radiation. so, basically safe to handle, but together they're enough to flip some bits in the janky '80s tech they've got and cause occasional scanning errors. and, get this, they're all from the same address. they track this place down, and it's this guy running a sort of bird sanctuary in his backyard. he's australian, and sells like, courses for avoiding getting attacked by birds - and he spends a lot of time hanging around these birds, right? so they take the guy in for questioning, and they literally can't even have recording equipment on the table with him without it glitching, he's almost cooking popcorn here. they question him, and he tells them about his business, how he like, teaches people specific hand gestures to scare away birds and whatever, and they start grilling him on whether he's been exposed to any chemicals or anything, because of the letters. and the guy, when he hears about the letters, suddenly goes like 'ohhh', and explains. cus he gives people grades on their performance and sends them a handmade certificate after they complete the course, right? so they're like 'why the fuck are your letters irradiated' and he just tells them 'Thats My Crow Wave Gradiation'

[an-android-in-a-tutu]

weird au concept hit me out of nowhere and I probably shant elaborate. But au where cas is a cupid but he's still just as serious and badass if not moreso and it's like how the united states postal inspection service is suprisingly effective and hardcore. He is the guy who investigates Romance Crimes and he takes his job So fucking seriously also he wears little heart cufflinks and tie pins because of course he does. It's a mark of his office.

[beardedmrbean]

A man has been charged after a stabbing spree that left four people dead and several injured in Rockford, Illinois.

Four people were killed, while seven others were injured, in the attack across “multiple scenes” at around 1.15pm on Wednesday.

Rockford Police Chief Carla Redd said her department received multiple calls and that when officers arrived, they found three victims deceased, while another was declared dead on arrival in the hospital.

Those killed were a 15-year-old girl, a 63-year-old woman, a 49-year-old man and a 22-year-old man.

“We have a suspect in custody who is being interviewed at this time,” Chief Redd said on Wednesday, adding that they did not have any other suspects currently.

On Thursday morning, it was reported that 22-year-old Christian Soto had been charged with multiple counts of murder/intent.

Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana told reporters that they were dealing with various addresses in the area.

One victim had multiple stab wounds to her hands and face, the Sheriff said, adding that a Good Samaritan who came to help her had also required medical treatment.

It was reported one of the victims was a mail carrier, with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service confirming this toThe Independent on Thursday morning.

“The Postal Inspection Service can confirm that a United States Postal Service (USPS) letter carrier was one of the victims in yesterday’s incident in Rockford, IL,” a spokesperson said. “At this time, there are no additional details we can provide, as this is an active investigation. Postal inspectors are working with the Rockford Police Department in this investigation.”

In a statement released to My Stateline, Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara said city leadership was shocked by the “horrific act of violence.”

“We can report that the suspect is in custody and the threat has been neutralized,” Mayor McNamara said. “Now that he is in custody, our primary concern is ensuring that our community members directly impacted by this violence are supported throughout their healing and recovery.

“We have multiple jurisdictions working on multiple crime scenes to develop an understanding of what transpired in an effort to prevent this from happening again. We will continue to provide updates,” the mayor said.

While law enforcement are expected to give an update around 11.30am local time, a vigil to remember the victims has been planned for 2.30pm at the intersection of Charles Street and Eggleston Road in the city.

The Independent is the world’s most free-thinking news brand, providing global news, commentary and analysis for the independently-minded. We have grown a huge, global readership of independently minded individuals, who value our trusted voice and commitment to positive change. Our mission, making change happen, has never been as important as it is today.

[ebookporn]

Bad News, Bookworms: Popular E-Book Pirating Site Z-Library Gets Taken Down

The website now displays a page that reads "This domain has been seized by the United States Postal Inspection Service in accordance with a court order."

The popular e-book torrenting website Z-library that was well-loved by students, academics and bookworms alike for its ability to offer hundreds and thousands of downloadable books for free was taken down today by the United States government in accordance with piracy laws.

Early morning on Friday, the website, along with all the various servers and domains associated with it, got taken down. The website now displays a page that reads “This domain has been seized by the United States Postal Inspection Service in accordance with a court order.”

Z-Library originally started out as BookFinder, a free shadow library that provided pirated e-books, articles and research papers for free. For this reason, it was very popular with students and instructors, and drew over a million unique users each month.

Initially starting out as a completely free service, it changed its model over time, requiring users who had downloaded a certain number of books to subscribe for a fee of a few dollars each month in order to be able to enjoy unlimited downloads.

The site offers over 11 million books and 84 million articles, and has seen a surge in popularity in recent months due to viral TikTok videos. But publishers all over the world have been very unhappy with the website for a long time, with a group in France even winning a site blocking order to prevent people from accessing the site.

Recently, the Author’s Guild, which is an American organization for writers that provides advocacy on issues of free expression and copyright protection, highlighted their growing concern over the website.

“The hashtag #zlibrary on popular social media platform TikTok has 4 million views, in reference to the countless videos posted by college and high school students and others across the world promoting it as the go-to place for free ebooks,” the Guild wrote, adding, “So far there have not been any significant enforcement actions against Z-Library of which we are aware.”

[twocubes]

United States Postal Inspection Service Parahuman Unit

[zkzm500a2]

THIS USER IS A VICTIM OF UNITED STATES POSTAL INSPECTION SERVICE DEATH SQUADS

[insanelyadd]

Currently hyperfixating on the United States Postal Service. Reminder for anyone who needs to hear this for any reason but if someone is stealing your mail/destroying your mail/trying to interfere with the delivering of your mail for any reason, that is a federal felony. To report them call 877-876-2455 or go to the official United States Postal Inspection Service's government website (for those not in the US see if the same may be applicableto you). This function of them isn't well known but I've known several people who've had their mail interfered with by abusive family members and stuff. If this is happening to you, report it, they take it VERY seriously. .

Like up to five years in prison and max 250k in fines serious (not to mention they'd also be a felon with all those restrictions), though these laws may have variance depending on your state, look them up, the law is called Obstruction of Correspondence.

Also that's why junk mail sent to your address will say "to (name) or current resident" or "to our friends at (address)", because legally you aren't allowed to open mail not addressed to you. They need to word it more vaguely on purpose to make it legal for you to get the coupons or whatever.

[bending-sickle]

pour one out, me hearties, there’s one less yo ho on the seas tonight:

Bad News, Bookworms: Popular E-Book Pirating Site Z-Library Gets Taken Down: The website now displays a page that reads "This domain has been seized by the United States Postal Inspection Service in accordance with a court order."

[labelleperfumery]

Matthew Perry's Death Being Investigated by United States Postal Service

Matthew Perry’s death is mobilizing multiple federal agencies — TMZ has learned the DEA’s now getting assistance from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in its efforts to find the person who gave the actor the ketamine that killed him. Law… from TMZ.com https://www.tmz.com/2024/05/21/matthew-perry-death-being-investigated-by-united-states-postal-inspection-service/

[mystlnewsonline]

Ryan Young - New Jersey - Sentenced for Fraud

New Jersey Man, Ryan Young, Sentenced for Multimillion-Dollar Mass-Mailing Fraud Schemes New York, NY (STL.News) A New Jersey man was sentenced on February 2, 2024, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York to 72 months in prison and two years of supervised release for committing two separate mail fraud schemes in which he stole more than $50 million from victims throughout the United States by sending letters falsely telling them that they were entitled to receive a large sum of money in exchange for payment of a small fee. According to court documents, Ryan Young, 41, of Upper Saddle River, operated two separate mail fraud schemes. In the first scheme, which Young operated from 2011 through 2016, Young and his co-conspirators sent fraudulent prize notification letters to victims in the United States and numerous other countries.  The letters falsely claimed recipients had won money or valuable prizes, such as luxury cars.  Victims were instructed to send small processing fees – typically $20 or $25 – to claim the prizes.  Many victims received nothing; others received only a cheap piece of jewelry or a report listing unrelated sweepstakes.  In February 2018, Young pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud for his role in this large-scale international mail fraud scheme that stole approximately $50 million from victims. While on release and awaiting sentencing on the first mail fraud scheme, Young operated a second mail fraud scheme from March 2019 through May 2022.  In the second scheme, Young mailed out letters falsely notifying recipients that they were entitled to receive unclaimed funds worth millions of dollars, a portion of a multimillion-dollar legal settlement, or a prize in exchange for payment of a small fee of $30 to $40.  Young did not deliver funds to any of the victims who sent payments in response to these letters.  Instead, Young sent booklets containing publicly available information or flyers about online restaurant coupons.  According to court documents, Young's' second scheme resulted in $1.6 million in losses to victims. ""The defendant in this case defrauded victims through multiple mail fraud schemes, depriving vulnerable Americans of more than $50 million,"" said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Justice Department's' Civil Division. ""The Justice Department and its federal law enforcement partners are committed to investigating and prosecuting those who target vulnerable American consumers for financial gain."" ""The defendant's' conduct is especially egregious.  After pleading guilty and acknowledging his responsibility, Mr. Young decided to revert to what he knew best, which was ripping off Americans," said" Inspector in Charge Eric Shen of the U.S. Postal Inspection ServiService'siinal Investigations Group.  "To "Today'synence sends a clear message to others who think they will not be caught – postal inspectors will find you." About the investigation, prosecution, and sentencing of Ryan Young. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case against Ryan Young. Senior Trial Attorney Ann Entwistle and Assistant Director John W. Burke of the Civil DivisDivision'sumer Protection Branch are prosecuting the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tanisha Payne for the Eastern District of New York is handling asset forfeiture. SOURCE: DOJ Read the full article

[recentlyheardcom]

WASHINGTON (AP) — In one of the biggest actions the administration has taken against fentanyl trafficking, the U.S. on Tuesday announced a series of indictments and sanctions against 14 people and 14 firms across China and Canada related to the import of the drug to the United States.Leaders from the Treasury, Justice and Homeland Security departments, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service are set to gather at Justice Department headquarters Tuesday afternoon to outline the administration's latest action against what it calls a “major China-based syndicate” that sold chemicals to American drug dealers and Mexico-based cartels. All but two of the firms and one of the people targeted are based in China.Mexico and China are the primary sources for fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances trafficked directly into the U.S., according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, which is tasked with combating illicit drug trafficking. Nearly all the precursor chemicals that are needed to make fentanyl are coming from China.“It’s the latest step in the rapid scaling up of our work targeting the financial flows that power the global illicit drug trade,” said Treasury’s Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo in a prepared speech. Adeyemo said Treasury is also seeking out the friends, family members, and affiliates of the people who benefit from drugs sales.“If you benefit from the proceeds of this illicit activity, we are going to come after your assets,” he said.U.S. officials said the operation targeted networks that traffic xylazine, a powerful sedative for veterinary use that is routinely mixed with fentanyl, into the U.S.Among the firms targeted is a pharmaceutical company that officials say advertises the sale of fentanyl precursors to Mexican customers as well as sales representatives alleged to have done business with a Mexico-based drug trafficking organization.Other targets include a China-based company that officials say has provided pill dies for counterfeit oxycodone M30 tablets.This latest action comes after a series of actions were taken this year against members of the Sinaloa cartel out of Mexico, cash couriers and cartel fraud schemes.Republicans have complained, however, that the administration isn’t doing enough to stop fentanyl and the issue is likely to figure prominently in next year's presidential campaign.In February, 21 Republican state attorneys general wrote a letter to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling on them to designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. And last year a group of Republican attorneys general asked the president to declare fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction. No such actions have been taken.Fentanyl, a powerful opioid, is the deadliest drug in the U.S. today. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that drug overdose deaths have increased more than sevenfold from 2015 to 2021.More than 100,000 deaths a year have been linked to drug overdoses since 2020 and about two-thirds of those are related to fentanyl. The death toll is more than 10 times as many drug deaths as in 1988, at the height of the crack epidemic.The U.S. has taken a slew of actions to stem the tide of fentanyl coming into the country. Overall, the Biden administration has imposed over 200 sanctions related to the illegal drug trade.And state lawmakers nationwide are responding to the deadliest overdose crisis in U.S. history by pushing harsher penalties for possessing fentanyl.In a speech at the Family Summit on Fentanyl last week, Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department is sending out some $345 million in federal funding over the next year, including money to support mentoring for at-risk young people and increase access to the overdose-reversal drug naloxone.On Capitol Hill, a bipartisan group of legislators out of the Senate Banking and Armed Services committees have introduced legislation that would declare fentanyl

trafficking a national emergency and prod Treasury to use its sanctions authority to quell the proliferation of the drug in the U.S.It would also impose reporting requirements and enable the president to confiscate sanctioned property of fentanyl traffickers to use for law enforcement efforts.__Associated Press reporter Lindsay Whitehurst in Wilmington, Delaware, contributed to this report.

[ailtrahq]

In a significant development, a former executive of Deutsche Bank, one of Germany’s leading financial institutions, has been handed a 30-year prison sentence for his involvement in a crypto fraud scheme.  The US Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a press release detailing the case, highlighting the individual’s guilty plea and the nature of the fraudulent activities. Decades Behind Bars In Crypto Fraud Case According to the DOJ, Rashawn Russell pleaded guilty in federal court in Brooklyn to participating in a scheme to defraud clients of the R3 Crypto Fund, an alleged cryptocurrency investment fund operated by Russell himself.  Additionally, Russell admitted to his role in a separate identity theft scheme, where he obtained credit cards and access devices fraudulently in the names of third parties. United States Magistrate Judge Sanket J. Bulsara presided over the plea, and upon sentencing, Russell faces a maximum of 30 years in prison. As part of the plea agreement, he will also be required to pay restitution amounting to over $1.5 million. The guilty plea announcement was made jointly by Breon Peace, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Nicole M. Argentieri, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; and Eric Shen, Inspector-in-Charge of the US Postal Inspection Service, Criminal Investigations Group (USPIS). In a statement, United States Attorney Breon Peace emphasized that Russell had “exploited investor interest” in cryptocurrency markets to defraud trusting clients. He further highlighted the swift conviction as a testament to the office’s commitment to holding wrongdoers in the digital asset markets accountable. USPIS Inspector-in-Charge Eric Shen expressed pride in the Postal Inspection Service’s efforts to protect Americans from “evolving fraud threats”. He stated that the case underscored their dedication to bringing to justice those who violate their fiduciary duty to clients. Court filings and facts presented during the plea hearing revealed that between November 2020 and August 2022, Russell made false promises of using their funds for lucrative cryptocurrency investments.  However, Russell allegedly misappropriated a significant portion of the investors’ assets for personal gain, gambling, and repaying earlier investors. This fraudulent scheme resulted in at least 29 investors losing a total of $1.5 million. Additionally, Russell engaged in a separate fraud scheme from September 2021 to June 2023. During this period, he fraudulently obtained numerous credit cards and access devices in the names of third parties, intending to use them for unauthorized transactions. The case is being handled by the Business and Securities Fraud Section of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, in conjunction with the Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Fraud Section. The total crypto market cap caught in a range between $1.048 and $1.065 trillion on the daily chart. Source: TOTAL on TradingView.com Source

[michaeljfox666]

United States Postal Inspection Service arrests man after stealing 200 p...