A Virginia man on Tuesday was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in a scheme to rob U.S. Postal Service mail carriers at gunpoint and take special keys used to access USPS collection mailboxes in order to obtain checks and sensitive financial information and use them to commit fraud, court records show.
People are also reading…
From the Archives: Mail in Richmond
03-09-1961 (cutline): The Richmond post office is planning to replace some of its worn out trucks with right-handed drive Willis Jeeps similar to the one shown here. The Jeeps with a half-ton carrying capacity, will be used for curbside mail and parcel post deliveries in the suburban areas, Arthur W. Bruke, transportation superintendent, said yesterday. They have automatic transmissions and are powered by four cylinder engines.
07-20-1972 (cutline): One of Richmond's first mailmaids delivers letters downtown. Mrs. Nancy Johnson joins previously all-mall force.
10-24-1956 (cutline): Mail Caddy--Matthew E. Perkins, Lakeside station carrier, finds it much easier on his back to deliver mail this way. The caddy, similar to ones golfers use to carry their clubs, is collapsible and can be carried easily on a bus route. As yet, it is not official issue here. Perkins, of 2403 Langston Ave., said he bought the caddy and is using it to relieve his ailing back and the burdeon of a heavy mail sack.
10-31-1968 (cutline): One day a week, Mrs. Susie Betts, an employee of the South Hill Post Office, drives the postal truck. According to James Boddie, postmaster, her assignment carries the decription "mounted letter carrier." Mrs. Betts, a vivacious and energetic grandmother, handles parcel post with all the dispatch of her male counterparts.
06-02-1955 (cutline): It's off--First Class by air--Piedmont Airlines Captain H.H. Hutchenson (in cockpit) accepts the first shipment of first class mail to leave the city by air. The shipment was made yesterday from Byrd Airport to Ohio points.
04-17-1973 (cutline): Old post office in studley has country store atmosphere. New postmaster Edna Lauterbach adds feminine touch.
10-17-1955 (cutline): Postmaster Fergus McRee demonstrates new mail box. J.S. Soyers, mail sorting chief, looks on with approval.
08-21-1954 (cutline): No Stretching--The Richmond post office is experimenting with two right-hand drive station wagons on its mounted delivery routes in the fringe areas of the city. Here Carrier Herman Jones easily slips some mail into a Ridge Road box by just reaching out his arm. Left-hand drive models call for considerable stretching.
05-26-1952 (cutline): Caesar Wilkins passes mail from truck to car at broad Street Station as No. 16 is readied for Richmond-Washington run. Rudolph L. Cavan checks in the pouches.
05-26-1952 (cutline): Rudolph L. Cavan picks up a pouch of mail on the 'catcher hook' at the same time tossing out a consigment for the local station.
01-20-1950 (cutline): Post Office Ready to Roll--F.A. Bristow, contactor; Postmaster Fergus McRee, and D.R. Griffith, superintendent of mails for the Richmond Post Office, inspect the highway post office which will leave her Wednesday at 6:45 A.M. on its first trip to Sanford, N.C., and return. The new service will start with an early ceremony before departure.
07-26-1951 (cutline): Post office customer succumbs to psychology. You can't beat psychology. Take Richmond main post office, for example, where a little dab of psychology solved a big problem. Folks always used to be asking questions: "Where do I put this letter? What about packages? Local mail?" Those were the old days,when ther was just one slot that read simply, "Mail."
05-26-1952 (cutline): Woody tosses bundled mail into bags for distribution from points beween Richmond and Washington. Accuracy comes with long practice.
08-29-1966 (cutline): Richmond postmaster John G. Mizell and postal employee Mrs. LaVerne Miller stand beside a Zip Code mail collection box, one of 34 setup next to regular mail collection boxes, which will be put into operation Thursday. Mail deposited in the Zip Code boxes will be given special treatment at the main post office sorting center in an effort to speed it toward its destination. In a related move, mail collection will be advanced by two hours in Richmond's business district and by one hour in residential areas to speed out-of-town deliver.
12-10-1970 (cutline): Sacks of mail at Main Post Office here were affected by strike.
03-22-1970 (cutline): E.M. Wallace, postal supervisor, handles embargoed mail store in city. About 45,000 pieces of first class mail are held up in main post office.
06-26-1957 (cutline): Lined up in Richmond Post Office garage on Noth 12th st. are 18 mailsters which soon will be seen on the city's mail routes. Seven more will be added to the fleet later. Postal officials said the little vehicles will be assigned to carriers in some of the suburbs and fringe areas in the city. They cost $900. Powered by a 7 1/2 horse power engines under the drivers' seats, the mailsters carry a quarter of a ton of mail in the trunk.
03-12-1959 (cutline): Long line--routeman Sam H. Mellichampe starts out placing mail in a long line of mail boxes a at a traile park near Peterburg. Mellinchampe said this row of boxes is the longest on his route.
05-16-1963 (cutline): 'Mailomat,' the machine that intrigues and irritates. Mrs. Lynda Snyder tries her hand at the controls.
