A mail carrier was arrested on a charge of delay of mail after investigators found thousands of pieces of mail in her home, according to police in California.
Now, 48-year-old Sherry Naomi Watanabe, a United States Postal Service mail carrier from the Sawtelle District of Los Angeles, is facing at least three years in jail after admitting to keeping 50,000 pieces of mail in her home.
According to the police investigation, Watanabe collected the 50,000 pieces of mail over a two year period.
Along with Watanabe, 32 people were charged as part of a sweep targeting criminal activity that has victimized the United States Postal Service and its customers.
Most of the defendants stole mail or embezzled from the agency. The former president of the Mail Handlers Union was charged with conspiracy and possession of stolen mail.
Jarol Garcia, 33, of Hemet, who worked at the Moreno Valley Delivery Distribution Center as a mail handler, stole mobile phones from parcels going through the center and traded the phones after offering them for exchange on a website.
Garcia possessed at least 166 mobile phones stolen from the mail.
A mail carrier from the Mid-City District of Los Angeles, was charged with conspiracy to commit access device credit card fraud and to steal mail.
Norman A. Muschamp, 48, was part of a conspiracy to use information belonging to identity theft victims to order pre-paid PayPal debit cards that were sent to primarily non-existent addresses on his mail route.
Muschamp allegedly participated in the scheme by obtaining the PayPal debit cards from the mail and delivering them to co-conspirators in exchange for cash.