(SitNews) Anchorage, Alaska - U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced Monday that six former Ravn Alaska employees have been charged by a federal grand jury for stealing mail, including Apple computers destined for village school districts, from the U.S. Postal Service.  One defendant was arrested Friday, the other five defendants were taken into custody Monday.  

Congress Lepou, 29, Breadoflife “Presley” Faiupu, 36, Hubert Barte, 37, Paulo Maae, 24, Harold Velicaria, 35, and Rogelio “Roger” Daquis, 49, all of Anchorage, were named in the indictment charging them with conspiracy, mail theft, and possession of stolen mail. 

During the course of the conspiracy, the defendants were employed by Ravn Alaska.  Ravn Alaska employees utilized a company vehicle, including the “supervisor truck” to pick up mail from the U.S. Postal Service Processing and Distribution Center in Anchorage, and transfer it to Ravn airplanes in Anchorage for delivery to Alaskan villages.  From March 2015 to April 2017, approximately 343 Apple computers went missing after being scanned in by the U.S. Postal Service Distribution Center, but before arriving at the U.S. post offices in the Alaskan villages.  The majority of those computers were en route to school districts in Alaska villages. 

According to the indictment, beginning in at least March 2015 and continuing through April 13, 2017, Lepou and Faiupu used Ravn Alaska’s supervisor truck – intended for the transportation of mail from the U.S. Postal Service facility to Ravn airplanes for delivery to villages – to take articles stolen from the mail and drive them to the Ravn employee parking lot to load into their personal vehicles.  Lepou and Faiupu worked with the other defendants to find buyers for the articles stolen from the mail.  The defendants shared the proceeds from the sales.  The total approximate value of items stolen from the mail during the timeframe of the conspiracy is $489,000. 

The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation leading to the indictment in this case. 

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.  A defendant is to be presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Editing by Mary Kauffman, SitNews

Source of News:

U.S. Department of Justice - Alaska District
www.doj.gov

 

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