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Former Indiana Postal Worker Who Pleaded Guilty To Stealing $1.7M In Mailed Checks Is Sentenced To Over 3 Years In Prison

<p>A former Indiana postal worker has been sentenced to over three years in prison&period; According to <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;foxnews&period;com&sol;us&sol;indiana-postal-worker-stole-1-7m-worth-checks-3-years-prison" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Fox News<&sol;a>&comma; the man pleaded guilty to stealing at least 272 mailed checks that amounted to &dollar;1&period;7 million&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h5 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">RELATED&colon; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;dev&period;theshaderoom&period;com&sol;former-employee-sentenced-stealing-10-million-amazon&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Former Employee Sentenced After Stealing Nearly &dollar;10 Million From Amazon<&sol;a><&sol;h5>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">More Details Regarding The Former Indiana Postal Worker&&num;8217&semi;s Sentencing<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>According to the outlet&comma; 42-year-old James Lancaster reportedly apologized for his actions ahead of his sentencing Wednesday&period; Then&comma; he shared that he is &&num;8220&semi;focused on turning his life around&comma; as per <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;wthr&period;com&sol;article&sol;news&sol;crime&sol;indianapolis-man-sentenced-stealing-one-million-dollars-checks-post-office-northwest-side-new-augusta-james-lancaster&sol;531-6c5f9358-3293-4dce-94c9-e383d418c4c7" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">WTHR<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote><p>&&num;8220&semi;My actions not only damaged my character but everyone involved&period; I want everyone to know I am truly sorry for everything that’s happened&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p><&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>The outlet adds that Lancaster&&num;8217&semi;s defense attorney&comma; Sam Ansell&comma; also requested that the judge &&num;8220&semi;offer Lancaster mercy&&num;8221&semi; by sentencing him to probation rather than jail time&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote><p>&&num;8220&semi;This is one of those unusual situations where the sentencing guideline is more than what’s necessary&comma;&&num;8221&semi; Ansell explained as per <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;wthr&period;com&sol;article&sol;news&sol;crime&sol;indianapolis-man-sentenced-stealing-one-million-dollars-checks-post-office-northwest-side-new-augusta-james-lancaster&sol;531-6c5f9358-3293-4dce-94c9-e383d418c4c7" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">WTHR<&sol;a>&period; &&num;8220&semi;I think in this case&comma; the harm that’s going to come to him and his family is significant … A prison sentence is not necessary&period; Probation would be adequate&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p><&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>Despite this&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;foxnews&period;com&sol;us&sol;indiana-postal-worker-stole-1-7m-worth-checks-3-years-prison" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Fox News<&sol;a> reports that Lancaster&period; was sentenced to 40 months in prison by U&period;S&period; District Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt on Wednesday&period; Additionally&comma; the outlet reports that after the sentencing&comma; Judge Pratt explained that Lancaster has &&num;8220&semi;no excuse for his actions&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The judge added that Lancaster&comma; a former Indiana U&period;S&period; postal customer service manager&comma; showed &&num;8220&semi;nothing other than greed and disregard&&num;8221&semi; for his victims&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote><p>&&num;8220&semi;The defendant really has no excuse for his actions&comma;&&num;8221&semi; Judge Pratt explained&comma; as per <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;wthr&period;com&sol;article&sol;news&sol;crime&sol;indianapolis-man-sentenced-stealing-one-million-dollars-checks-post-office-northwest-side-new-augusta-james-lancaster&sol;531-6c5f9358-3293-4dce-94c9-e383d418c4c7" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">WTHR<&sol;a>&period; &&num;8220&semi;Mr&period; Lancaster was in a position of trust at a busy post office &lpar;but showed&rpar; nothing other than greed and disregard of the victims&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p><&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>Ultimately&comma; Judge Pratt added that Lancaster&&num;8217&semi;s alleged actions &&num;8220&semi;seriously impacted&&num;8221&semi; businesses whose checks were confiscated in the scheme and eroded the public&&num;8217&semi;s trust in the U&period;S&period;P&period;S&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Furthermore&comma; the judge ordered Lancaster to serve three years of &&num;8220&semi;supervision&&num;8221&semi; and pay more than &dollar;88&comma;000 in restitution to the affected victims&comma; as per <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;wthr&period;com&sol;article&sol;news&sol;crime&sol;indianapolis-man-sentenced-stealing-one-million-dollars-checks-post-office-northwest-side-new-augusta-james-lancaster&sol;531-6c5f9358-3293-4dce-94c9-e383d418c4c7" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">WTHR<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">More Information Regarding The Suspect&&num;8217&semi;s Alleged Scheme<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>According to <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;foxnews&period;com&sol;us&sol;indiana-postal-worker-stole-1-7m-worth-checks-3-years-prison" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Fox News<&sol;a>&comma; the former New Augusta&comma; Indianapolis&comma; U&period;S&period; postal worker allegedly began thieving mail that contained checks in 2021&period; The outlet reports that court records confirm Lancaster stole over 272 mailed checks&period; The checks were reportedly worth &dollar;1&period;7 million dollars and originated from 59 businesses&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><amp-twitter data-tweetid&equals;"1694420396299133261" layout&equals;"responsive" width&equals;"600" height&equals;"480"><&sol;amp-twitter><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Additionally&comma; the businesses reportedly included hospitals&comma; utility companies&comma; car dealerships&comma; charities&comma; and a cancer research center&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Robb Fine&comma; a business owner whose company lost three checks that amounted to &dollar;21&comma;000 in the scheme&comma; shared his thoughts on the matter as per <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;wthr&period;com&sol;article&sol;news&sol;crime&sol;indianapolis-man-sentenced-stealing-one-million-dollars-checks-post-office-northwest-side-new-augusta-james-lancaster&sol;531-6c5f9358-3293-4dce-94c9-e383d418c4c7" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">WTHR<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote><p>&&num;8220&semi;The whole thing was really horrible&period; Unless you own a business&comma; it’s hard for anyone to understand what the business interruption is like&comma; to shut down your checking account&period; It took two people working two whole weeks to get things worked out&comma; and then it took months working with our bank&period; It’s a huge problem when something like this happens&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p><&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>Lancaster ultimately pleaded guilty to one count of mail theft and conspiracy to commit bank fraud&period; Meanwhile&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;wthr&period;com&sol;article&sol;news&sol;crime&sol;indianapolis-man-sentenced-stealing-one-million-dollars-checks-post-office-northwest-side-new-augusta-james-lancaster&sol;531-6c5f9358-3293-4dce-94c9-e383d418c4c7" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">WTHR<&sol;a> reports that two co-conspirators were also discovered in the case&&num;8217&semi;s investigation&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to the outlet&comma; the co-conspirators allegedly manipulated the checks&period; Then&comma; they sold them online for a profit&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;foxnews&period;com&sol;us&sol;indiana-postal-worker-stole-1-7m-worth-checks-3-years-prison" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Fox News<&sol;a> reports that one co-conspirator&comma; Jordan McPhearson of Illinois&comma; pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud last year&period; McPhearson has since been sentenced to 42 months in federal prison&period; According to <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;wthr&period;com&sol;article&sol;news&sol;crime&sol;indianapolis-man-sentenced-stealing-one-million-dollars-checks-post-office-northwest-side-new-augusta-james-lancaster&sol;531-6c5f9358-3293-4dce-94c9-e383d418c4c7" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">WTHR<&sol;a>&comma; the second co-conspirator&comma; Lavaris Yarbrough&comma; will be sentenced in September&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><amp-youtube data-videoid&equals;"NVKpw0gb1Qc" layout&equals;"responsive" width&equals;"1000" height&equals;"563" dock&equals;"&num;dock-slot"><&sol;amp-youtube><&sol;p>&NewLine; 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Jadriena Solomon

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