Casey Tyler Smith, Conspiracy to Defraud the United States on Claims, North Carolina 2023

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A Fayetteville man pleaded guilty to stealing postage from a law firm in Wilmington, resulting in over $80,000 in losses to the firm.

Casey Tyler Smith, 27, of Fayetteville, was charged with Conspiracy to Defraud the United States on Claims. According to the Criminal Information, Smith worked at a law firm identified as ‘B&S’ in Wilmington and had access to the firm’s Pitney Bowes postal meter.

Smith accessed the firm’s postal meter and fraudulently generated thousands of dollars in postage on the firm’s postal account. He and others then took the stolen postage to a post office, where Smith filed fraudulent postal refund claims, alleging that the postage had been lost or stolen. In fact, the postage was used to generate fraudulent proceeds for Smith.

The post office provided refunds on the postage to Smith in the form of postal money orders, both in his own name and in the names of others. Smith and others then took the postal money orders to banks to convert them into cash.

In total, Smith caused 113 fraudulent postal claims to be filed, resulting in over $80,000 in losses to B&S. At sentencing, Smith faces up to 10 years in prison and 3 years of supervised release for committing the offense of Conspiracy to Defraud the United States on Claims.

U.S. Attorney Robert J. Higdon, Jr. made the announcement, praising the work of the United States Postal Inspection Services, which handled the investigation of this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney William M. Gilmore is prosecuting the case. An indictment is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Grimy Times will continue to follow this case and provide updates as more information becomes available.

Read the full press release on our website.

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