Former Essex County postal employee admits stealing credit cards from mail

NEWARK, NJ — A former U.S. Postal Service employee has admitted stealing credit cards sent through the mail as part of a conspiracy to commit access device fraud, acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced Aug. 24.

Kyle Williams, 36, of the Vauxhall section of Union, pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Claire C. Cecchi to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, from July 2019 to August 2020, Williams, then a USPS employee, stole from the mail credit cards issued by financial institutions outside of New Jersey and provided those credit cards to his conspirators, who fraudulently activated them and used them to make and attempt to make purchases without the cardholders’ authorization, including buying gift cards and electronics. The investigation to date has revealed that the victims have incurred more than approximately $100,000 in intended and actual losses from fraudulent purchases made using their stolen credit cards. In addition to stealing and illegally using credit cards, Williams and his conspirators also schemed to steal and fraudulently use more than $11,000 of funds pre-loaded onto Economic Impact Payment cards issued by the U.S. Department of Treasury and sent in the U.S. mail pursuant to the CARES Act. 

The conspiracy charge is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 90 months in prison and a maximum fine of up to $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 12, 2022.

Williams was charged with Jarid Brooks, 27, Justin Brooks, 21, and Kyjuan Hutchins, 22, also of Vauxhall, in October 2020. Jarid Brooks and Justin Brooks were charged in an indictment with conspiracy to receive stolen mail, commit bank fraud, defraud the USPS and the U.S. Department of Treasury, theft of stolen mail, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft; additionally, Jarid Brooks was charged with possession with intent to distribute narcotics and Justin Brooks with possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. The indictment is pending. Hutchins has pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit access device fraud and is awaiting sentencing. The charges and allegations against Jarid Brooks and Justin Brooks are merely accusations, and those defendants are presumed innocent unless and until found guilty in a court of law.

  Fraud, U.S. Attorney’s Office, U.S. Postal Service