Hampton Roads Duo Sentenced for USPS Mail Carrier Heist

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – In a brazen attack, O’Sirus Landres Charles Ford, 21, of Chesapeake, Virginia, and his accomplices robbed a U.S. Postal Service (USPS) mail carrier at gunpoint, netting a valuable ‘arrow’ key used to access blue collection boxes and apartment mailbox panels.

Ford, described as a ruthless thief, specifically targeted a mail carrier in the Newport News/Hampton area, requesting that his accomplice Jayden Stukes, 21, of Suffolk, Virginia, drive him ‘across the water’ to carry out the heist. Stukes recruited another accomplice, Da’Twan Watson, 24, of Chesapeake, who was deemed ‘a lock’ by Stukes.

On May 9, 2023, Ford, Stukes, and Watson met at a rental car used in a previous armed robbery, this time targeting a mail carrier in Norfolk. The group was armed with handguns and masks, but they were unable to gain entry to the vehicle. A friend of Stukes’s eventually drove the group to the Hampton area, where they began searching for the mail carrier on foot.

After crossing Hampton Roads, Ford diverted the vehicle from its original destination, the downtown Newport News Post Office, and instead directed the vehicle around a light industrial-commercial area of Hampton. Ford and his accomplice Watson exited the vehicle and began stalking the mail carrier on Galax Street in Hampton. Only Ford was armed, but both he and Watson were fully masked.

Ford approached the mail carrier, brandished his firearm, and demanded the ‘arrow’ key. After a tense standoff, the victim handed over the key, and Ford and Watson fled the scene. They eventually met up with Stukes and the driver in an apartment complex nearby before returning across the water.

Both Watson and Stukes pleaded guilty to interfering with commerce by robbery and aiding and abetting. Stukes was sentenced to 4 years in prison, while Watson received the same sentence today. Ford, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to interfere with commerce by robbery and using a firearm in relation to the crime, is scheduled to be sentenced on May 2.

U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Ajay Lall, Hampton Police Chief Jimmie Wideman, and Newport News Police Chief Steve R. Drew announced the sentencing after Watson was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth W. Hanes. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Julie Podlesni and Mack Coleman prosecuted the case.