Ex-Mail Carrier Admits Stealing Checks, Cards In Montclair And Verona

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — An Essex County man admitted that he stole credit cards and checks from the mail while working as a U.S. Postal Service carrier on delivery in Montclair and Verona in 2021, authorities announced Monday.

Parrish Brookins, 30, of East Orange, pleaded guilty to one count of mail theft by a U.S. Postal Service officer or employee, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutors released the following statement about the allegations against Brookins:

“From January 2021 to September 2021, Brookins was employed as a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier with delivery routes in Montclair and Verona, New Jersey. Certain credit cards addressed to third-party victims and mailed to addresses in Verona and Montclair were stolen on numerous dates from routes worked by Brookins. These credit cards subsequently were activated and used to make and attempt to make fraudulent purchases in New Jersey and elsewhere. Numerous stimulus checks issued by the U.S. Department of Treasury also addressed to third-party victims and mailed to addresses in Verona covered by Brookins were also stolen along these same postal routes.”

Prosecutors continued:

“Brookins admitted in court that he had stolen numerous items of mail containing credit cards addressed to individuals living at residences on his postal delivery routes, activated some of these cards and attempted to make purchases with them. He admitted that he provided some of the stolen cards to other individuals in exchange for a fee. Brookins admitted stealing more than a dozen stimulus checks in March of 2021, which were being mailed to recipients along his postal delivery routes, and to providing these checks to other individuals for a fee, knowing that these checks would be fraudulently negotiated by others.”

The mail theft charge is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 15, prosecutors said.

The charges against Brookins were first announced in December 2021.

MAIL THEFT IN MONTCLAIR, VERONA

Another case of mail-related theft was reported in Essex County earlier this year, authorities previously said.

In February, two Essex County residents were accused of stealing more than 200 checks from U.S. Post Office mailboxes in Montclair and Verona. More than $2.28 million worth of checks were allegedly stolen.

Police charged men from Bloomfield and East Orange in connection with the thefts. Read More: NJ Men Accused Of Stealing 200 Checks From Mailboxes In Montclair, Verona

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