Austin Correia, Embezzlement, Massachusetts 2019

In a shocking case of embezzlement, a U.S. Postal Service (USPS) employee has pleaded guilty to stealing over $20,000 in payments from customers for money orders and stamps.

Austin Correia, 22, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty to one count of theft of embezzlement and theft of public money, property or records on November 20, 2019.

The scheme, which began in 2017, saw Correia void out valid transactions to make it appear as if they did not occur, allowing him to keep the cash payments for his own personal use.

Correia, a Sales & Service Distribution Associate at the Mount Pleasant and Coffin Station Post Offices in New Bedford, had the ability to issue foreign and domestic postal money orders and sell stamps to customers.

According to the plea agreement, Correia embezzled over $20,000 from USPS, with the government recommending a sentence of two years of probation with the first six months to be served in home confinement, 25 hours of community service and restitution in the amount of $20,584.

The exact criminal charges against Correia include theft of embezzlement and theft of public money, property or records. He is scheduled to be sentenced on November 20, 2019.

Correia was arrested in June 2019, following an indictment by a federal grand jury. The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Northeast Area Office, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts are investigating the case.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/us-postal-service-employee-pleads-guilty-embezzlement