A Marion man who forged and counterfeited postage and committed export violations was convicted today following a one-day trial that occurred last month in federal court in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Bradley Jon Matheny, age 42, from Marion, Iowa, was convicted of seven counts of postage meter stamp forgery and counterfeiting and three counts of export violations. The verdict was returned late this afternoon after a day-long bench trial that was held in February.
The evidence at trial showed that Matheny operated an eBay business known as ‘Mathenys’ from his residence in Marion. Through ‘Mathenys,’ Matheny sold retail goods to individuals all over the United States and the globe. Matheny used the United States Postal Service (USPS) to ship these goods to his customers; in 2015, for example, Matheny shipped over 28,000 packages with the USPS.
Postage posed a significant financial cost to Matheny’s business. To reduce his costs, and increase his profit, Matheny possessed and used forged and counterfeited postage meter stamps on many of the packages he sent to his customers between November 2015 and May 2017.
Matheny remains free on bond pending sentencing before Judge Williams. Matheny faces a possible maximum sentence of 65 years’ imprisonment, a $2.5 million fine, and three years of supervised release following any imprisonment.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tim Vavricek and was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service.
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Key Facts
- State: Iowa
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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