A former U.S. Postal Service letter carrier was sentenced to 18 months in prison for stealing more than $14,700 in Social Security and workers’ compensation checks from Cooksville residents on her mail route.
“The defendant abused the trust placed in her by the government and necessarily by the citizens to safeguard their mail and ultimately, their money,” said Prosecutor Lynn Marshall in a statement.
Deidre Grace, 47, of Severn, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Howard Circuit Court to a felony theft scheme greater than $500, and in turn, the prosecutor dropped forgery and counterfeit charges.
Judge Diane Leasure sentenced Grace to five years in prison with all but 18 months suspended.
After her release, Grace will be on supervised probation for three years and must pay $14,776 in restitution to the victims.
Police discovered the scheme after three residents who lived along Route 1 reported in 2007 that their checks were not delivered.
Millard Taylor, a senior citizen who lived on the 1100 block of Hoods Mill Road, told postal managers that his monthly Social Security check and several workers’ compensation checks, each worth $1,700, had not been delivered.
The Washington, D.C. Workers’ Compensation Board told Miller the checks were endorsed by Grace and deposited into a Navy Federal Credit Union savings account.
Bessie Dorsey, another senior citizen who lived on the 2000 block of Millers Mill Road, said she could not afford her physical therapy sessions after her Social Security checks were stolen by Grace.
The Social Security Administration told her she must have signed the checks and forgotten, according to court records.
After the third victim Charles Kim, of the 1700 block of Oakdale Drive, came forward, Howard police discovered a total of 11 checks that Grace had stolen.
She was arrested in February and admitted she stole the checks, because “her hours were not steady and she needed money,” according to court records.
Inside Grace’s purse, police found seven envelopes not addressed to her, some containing new credit cards and personal identification numbers to financial accounts.
Dorsey and Miller still have not been fully reimbursed by the Social Security Administration, according to court records.
Defense Attorney Janette DeBoissiere declined comment.
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