FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A letter carrier with the U.S. Postal Service appeared in Fort Lauderdale federal court on Tuesday after authorities busted him stealing mail during a surveillance operation, court documents state.
According to a federal criminal complaint, Joey Pierre-Toussaint would later admit to selling it “on the street” — but not before he crashed his personal vehicle into a tree trying to flee investigators in Pompano Beach on Monday.
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The complaint, authored by Special Agent Kevin Adams, who works for the USPS Office of the Inspector General, states that the investigation began in June after Tropical Financial Credit Union reported that debit cards mailed to customers were stolen and fraudulently used.
Those debit cards were destined for customers in the 33063 zip code, which covers most of Margate and a small portion of Coconut Creek.
Adams wrote that investigators zeroed in on Pierre-Toussaint, 31, after determining the probable delivery dates of the stolen cards; they began surveilling him on July 29. USPS officials said he worked at a facility in Pompano Beach at the time of his arrest.
Unbeknownst to Pierre-Toussaint, investigators had set up hidden cameras in his mail truck, authorities said.
Adams wrote that the video captured Pierre-Toussaint “stealing mail from his mail trays” and investigators confirmed that he “stole mail every day” between July 29 and Aug. 2.
Authorities said on Monday, “USPS OIG observed a live video feed from the postal truck that Pierre-Toussaint was driving, wherein he isolated specific pieces of mail and placed those items into a bag.”
He threw the stolen mail into the bushes at a business complex at 2501 NW 34th Place in Pompano Beach, a few miles from his post office, Adams wrote.
Court documents state that investigators continued to surveil the complex with the expectation that Pierre-Toussaint or someone else would return to retrieve the stolen mail, which he did, about an hour after his shift ended.
Investigators said they tried to stop Pierre-Toussaint’s vehicle, but he tried to flee and quickly crashed into a tree in the business complex parking lot.
Afterward, authorities said they were able to recover the stolen mail from the vehicle and “other pieces of previously stolen mail,” totaling about 50 pieces.
Court documents state that Pierre-Toussaint waived his Miranda rights and spoke to law enforcement and “admitted to stealing mail from USPS for the last two years and (said) that he would sell the mail to other individuals on the street.”
During his appearance in federal court Tuesday morning on a charge of theft of mail by an employee, U.S. Magistrate Judge Panayotta Augustin‐Birch granted prosecutors’ request that he be held for a pre-trial detention hearing.
That hearing is scheduled for Tuesday at 10 a.m. in Fort Lauderdale federal court; an arraignment hearing is scheduled for Aug. 27.
If convicted, Pierre-Toussaint, who was being held in the Broward Main Jail as of Wednesday morning, faces a fine and up to five years in prison.
A USPS spokesperson said he remains employed, but said the agency couldn’t publicly discuss personnel matters further “due to privacy concerns.”