DAYTON – Leanna Heskett, 47, of Springfield, was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to serve five months in prison for more than 100 instances of stealing items from packages she handled as a mail processing clerk at the Springfield, Ohio Post Office in 2015.
Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio and Monica Weyler, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General Eastern Area Field Office announced the sentence handed down today by U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Rose.
According to court testimony, Heskett’s job with the Postal Service was to receive and sort mail and packages and prepare them for delivery by postal carriers. In 2014, customers in Springfield reported receiving packages with items missing from inside the packages. Several postal carriers in Springfield also reported noticing open parcels among those they received for delivery. USPS-OIG investigators determined that Heskett had been opening and stealing mail. Heskett pleaded no contest on August 1, 2016 to one count of mail theft.
Security video documented Heskett placing packages into her pants and leaving the work area, as well as opening packages, removing the contents and resealing the packages.
Heskett was also sentenced to two years of supervised release, to be served following her release from prison, including seven months of home confinement.
U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigation of this case by the USPS-OIG and First Assistant United States Attorney Vipal Patel, who represented the United States in this case.