James Joseph Baehm, Jr. and Melody Baehm, Mail Theft, Alaska 2013

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – In a shocking case of holiday theft, James Joseph Baehm, Jr., 47, and Melody Baehm, 41, of Anchorage, were sentenced for stealing mail just before Christmas 2013.

According to the United States Attorney Karen Loeffler, the Baehms were arrested in the early morning hours of December 22, 2013, in the Upper Hillside area of South Anchorage, where they had been stealing mail from residential mailboxes.

Further investigation revealed that they had also stolen mail a week earlier, and had cashed stolen checks amounting to approximately $2000. The United States Postal Inspection Service identified between 80 and 100 victims whose mail was taken by the Baehms, and either recovered from their vehicle or found dumped in trash bins.

The Baehms were charged with mail theft and have been in federal custody since their arrest on December 22, 2013, having served five months in jail.

U.S. District Court Judge Timothy M. Burgess sentenced each defendant to a 5-year term of probationary supervision, with each defendant required to spend 6 months in community confinement, either in a halfway house or in a residential drug treatment facility.

The court also ordered each defendant to submit to an evaluation to determine the extent of their substance abuse problems. Judge Burgess also imposed the requirement that each defendant devote at least 40 hours per week to employment, seeking employment, or job training. He also ordered them to each perform 400 hours of community service and ordered them to pay $1850 in restitution to Alaska USA Federal Credit Union to pay back the money they stole by forging the stolen checks.

The Baehms face several pending felony and misdemeanor state theft charges, as well as probation violations on prior state property crimes.

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