On Friday, April 27, 2018, it was announced that a man from Sacramento had been sentenced to prison for his involvement in a scheme that involved stealing and deconstructing United States Postal Service locks to reserve engineer keys and steal mail with the intention of stealing identities and defrauding financial institutions. 28-year-old Dang Vue was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison. Vue and his co-defendant, 27-year-old Billee Vang, pleaded guilty to bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, theft of stolen US mail, steal and producing postal service locks and keys, and unlawful possession of at least five identification documents for fraudulent purposes on November 17, 2017.
Court documents show that between January 13, 2017 and May 12, 2017, the defendants stole mail throughout Placer and Sacramento Countries. The defendants stole locks and reverse engineered keys to open neighborhood mailbox units. After stealing the mail, the men took over the victims’ bank and credit accounts. They also used and tried to use credit cards, debit cards, and checks that had been stolen.
When arrested on May 12, 2017, the defendants were in possession of counterfeit keys, metal filing tools, pry bars, and other burglary tools. Billie Vang is scheduled to be sentenced on May 4, 2018. At that time, he will face up to 30 years in prison for the bank fraud convictions and a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years for aggravated identity theft. Additional details have been made available here.