USPS Carrier Stole Mail From Routes In Montclair, Verona: Feds

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — A U.S. Postal Service (USPS) employee who lives in Essex County has been accused of stealing mail from routes in Montclair and Verona, authorities say.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Parrish Brookins, 29, of East Orange, has been charged with mail theft by a Postal Service officer or employee. He appeared in Newark federal court Thursday and was released on $50,000 bond.

Prosecutors released the following statement about the accusations against Brookins:

“From January 2021 to July 2021, certain credit cards addressed to third-party victims and mailed to addresses on postal routes in Verona and Montclair, New Jersey, were stolen on or about the same dates that Brookins was delivering mail on those routes. These credit cards subsequently were activated by Brookins and others and used to make and attempt to make fraudulent purchases in New Jersey and elsewhere. From at least March 2021 to September 2021, Brookins also stole stimulus checks issued by the U.S. Department of Treasury likewise addressed to third-party victims and mailed to addresses on postal routes in Verona covered by Brookins, who then provided these checks to others for fraudulent purposes.”

The mail theft charge carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine, prosecutors said.

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