Farmington Hills Man Bribes Mail Carriers, Steals Credit Cards: Feds

FARMINGTON HILLS, MI — A Farmington Hills man bribed mail carriers to file phony unemployment claims and steal credit cards from residents, United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison announced Tuesday.

28-year-old Andre Taylor Jr. was sentenced to six years and three months in prison after he pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft in December 2021, federal officials said. He was also ordered to pay $774,607 in restitution to his victims.

Taylor Jr. began bribing mail carriers to steal credit cards that were intended for someone else in October 2019, officials said. Court documents showed he then used the stolen credit cards to buy things without authorization from the cardholder.

Officials said he often bought prepaid gift cards in bulk from retailers, so he could easily transfer them to cash. He operated this scheme in Michigan and other states, authorities said.

Beginning in March 2020, when the federal officials announced the enhanced pandemic unemployment insurance benefits program, Taylor Jr. bribed mail carriers to obtain personal information from residents and file fraudulent unemployment claims in their name, including in Michigan and Pennsylvania, officials said.

In filing the phony claims, Taylor Jr. used addresses along the routes of his complicit mail carriers, so he could intercept all the unemployment insurance mailings, officials said.

Mail carriers Jordyn Merriewether, Jonathan Brooks and Alexandra Thomas pleaded guilty to felony theft of mail matter in connection to Taylor Jr.'s case, WDIV reported, citing authorities.

"This defendant indiscriminately stole from pandemic relief programs, from banks, and from the public," Ison said. "He took money from wherever it was available, and he did not care whom he harmed along the way. Mr. Taylor’s conviction and sentence is a reflection of my office’s commitment to aggressive prosecution of those who steal identities to defraud both public and private victims."