Mail Thief Sentenced to Nearly 4 Years in Prison

(Ed. Note: This post is a press release from US District Attorney Jenny Durkan's Office.)

A mail thief who broke into locked mailboxes across King, Pierce and Thurston County to steal checks and identities was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 44 months in prison and four years of supervised release.

Seattle resident Wilfredo Bermudez, 40, was found guilty for cashing or attempted to cash checks from 27 different victims, including a church, according to court records, with estimated losses of $80,000.

U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones noted the effect of the crimes during sentencing that the many victims who had mail stolen and their bank accounts violated saying, “It may seem like it is just the theft of one check, but it can be a disaster in that person’s life.”

Bermudez was arrested in November 2012 after 13 months of breaking into mailboxes in the Puget Sound region, including victims in Redmond, Kirkland and Woodinville. He was captured on surveillance video breaking in to the locked mailbox at a business plaza — a red Hummer he purchased with the proceeds of his crimes is visible in the video, according to prosecutors.

He stole mail in three different counties, including checks, driver’s licenses, and other items by breaking into victims’ mailboxes and often threw away or destroyed the remainder of victims’ mail, leaving the mailbox damaged or unusable in the process.

Assistant United States Attorney Ehren Reynolds said that many victims had their lives disrupted by the thefts, forcing them to make time consuming changes to various accounts, cancel vacations and change the way they use the mails. Employees of a victimized church had their paychecks delayed while the church changed bank accounts. One victim, a recent immigrant to the U.S., was pestered by creditors because Bermudez had used his identity to run up big debts. 

Bermudez has two prior state convictions for identity theft.
    
The lead investigative agency on the case is the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), which was assisted by many local police agencies who responded to reports of mailbox thefts in King, Pierce and Thurston counties.