Three Robbers Plead Guilty to USPS Arrow Key Heist

Three Robbers Plead Guilty to USPS Arrow Key Heist

Three Fort Worth men have pleaded guilty to robbing a U.S. letter carrier, stealing the coveted USPS Arrow Key, a master key used to gather mail from blue collection boxes.

According to court documents, Cedrick Eugene Mims, 25, Danny Yogi Oriszul Powell, 24, and Cameron Kemond Gist, 25, targeted a letter carrier, identified as C.S., in Fort Worth on October 24, 2023.

During the heist, Mims allegedly pointed a 39mm pistol at the carrier and demanded ‘the key’ – a reference to the Arrow Key. The men also made off with a postal scanner and the keys to the letter carrier’s official vehicle.

Powell drove the getaway car, while Gist provided the firearms, according to plea papers. The Arrow Key, prized by mail thieves, is a master key used by the U.S. Postal Service to gather mail deposited in blue collection boxes.

Mims and Gist face up to 25 years in federal prison due to the dangerous weapon enhancement, while Powell faces up to 10 years. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Fort Worth Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Montes is prosecuting the case, which is a result of Project Safe Delivery (PSD), a joint U.S. Postal Service and U.S. Postal Inspection Service initiative aimed at countering postal crime and safeguarding postal employees.

Since the launch of PSD, postal inspectors have arrested over 213 individuals for postal-related robberies, a 72% increase in arrests and a 21% decrease in postal-related robberies in the first six months of the fiscal year.

Leigha Simonton, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, announced the guilty pleas. The case serves as a reminder of the importance of protecting postal employees and the mailstream.