FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 26, 2006

LOVELAND WOMAN INDICTED BY FEDERAL GRAND JURY IN DENVER FOR STEALING OVER 1,000 NETFLIX AND BLOCKBUSTER MOVIES FROM THE MAIL

DENVER – Bill Leone, United States Attorney for the District of Colorado, and Kathleen Roberts, Postal Inspector in Charge in Denver, announced that a federal grand jury in Denver, late yesterday returned an indictment charging KAREN DURANTE, age 24, of Loveland, Colorado, with stealing Netflix and Blockbuster DVD’s from the mail. DURANTE was a contract mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, working in Lyons, Colorado.

According to the indictment, DURANTE is charged with four counts of stealing Netflix DVD’s from the mail. She was also charged with a fifth count of possessing approximately one thousand two hundred fifty-six (1,256) Netflix and Blockbuster DVD’s which had been stolen from the mail. All the DVD’s were taken from the Lyons, Colorado area.

The penalty for theft of mail is up to 5 years in federal prison, and/or a $250,000 per count. The penalty for possession of stolen mail is up to 5 years in federal prison, and/or a $250,000 fine.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

“For more than two centuries, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service has been committed to preserving the public’s trust in our nation’s postal system. We take the theft of the U.S. Mail very seriously,” stated Kathleen Roberts, Denver Division Postal Inspector in Charge.
The case is being prosecuted by James Allison, Chief of the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney’s Office.

The charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty.

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