Wilber Castellanos Hernandez, Carjacking, Utah 2024

A brazen act of carjacking left a U.S. Postal Service employee shaken, but thankfully uninjured. Wilber Castellanos Hernandez, 33, an undocumented Mexican citizen, was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to carjacking a U.S. Postal Service truck and threatening the U.S. Postal Service employee in Salt Lake City, Utah.

On February 5, 2024, Hernandez stole a U.S. Postal Service vehicle in Salt Lake City. He admitted to checking the door handle of the postal truck and entering the vehicle. When he was told to get out of the vehicle by the postal employee, he pointed a knife at him and fled from the area. Hernandez was tracked using GPS technology and stopped by law enforcement before he was subsequently taken into custody.

Hernandez was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment. In addition to his term of imprisonment, U.S. District Court Judge David Barlow sentenced Hernandez to 36 months’ supervised release and ordered him to pay $2,828.89 in restitution for damage to the postal vehicle and missing postal equipment.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and an FBI Task Force Officer with the Salt Lake City Police Department investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Carlos A. Esqueda of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.

Hernandez’s case is a stark reminder of the dangers faced by postal workers on a daily basis. Fortunately, no one was injured in this incident, but it’s a sobering reminder of the importance of public safety and the need for effective law enforcement.

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