United States Attorney James T. Jacks
Northern District of Texas

THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2011
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txn/

FORMER POSTAL EMPLOYEE SENTENCED TO MORE THAN THREE YEARS
IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR STEALING CHECKS FROM MAIL
DURING TAX FILING SEASON

Defendant Also Ordered to Pay Nearly $250,000 in Restitution

DALLAS — At a sentencing hearing held yesterday afternoon, Tobian McRuffin, of Glenn Heights, Texas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis to 37 months in prison, following his guilty plea in January 2011 to one count of theft of mail matter by a postal service employee, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Judge Solis also ordered that McRuffin pay $244,320 in restitution and surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on June 15, 2011.

McRuffin’s co-defendant, Roscoe Hill, aka “Peco,” of Dallas, pleaded guilty in January 2011 to one count of possessing stolen mail. He remains on bond; a sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to plea documents filed in the case, in April 2008, while he worked for the U.S. Postal Service as a letter carrier out of the Juanita Craft Postal Station in Dallas, McRuffin stole three U.S. Treasury checks from the mail. Also, in April 2008, Hill possessed eight U.S. Treasury checks, totaling more than $38,000, which he knew had been stolen from the U.S. mail.

According to testimony at yesterday’s sentencing hearing, Judge Solis held McRuffin responsible for stealing 86 Treasury checks from the mail at the Juanita Craft Station, with an intended loss of $323,742.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Service - Office of the Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen P. Fahey was in charge of the prosecution.

###