Former USPS supervisor pleads guilty to stealing $369K in checks from mail

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Wide angle of logo for United States Postal Service (USPS) on mailbox in Lafayette, California, September 3, 2020. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

ST. LOUIS - A former U.S. Postal Service supervisor has pleaded guilty to stealing dozens of checks from the mail and passing them to an accomplice, federal prosecutors said this week. 

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Benita Randle, 43, entered her guilty plea in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of theft of mail by a postal employee.

Her co-defendant, John Harrison, 26, of Black Jack, Missouri, previously pleaded guilty on Feb. 10, 2026, to possession of stolen mail.

Randle worked as a supervisor at the St. Louis Processing and Distribution Center, where she had broad access to non-parcel mail moving through the region. Between September and October 2023, she diverted mail containing checks and handed it over to Harrison, who opened the envelopes and removed the payments.

The scheme unraveled after Randle’s leased Nissan Juke was repossessed due to a lapse in insurance. At the dealership, employees discovered a backpack belonging to Harrison that contained an AR-style handgun, cocaine, fentanyl and loose checks, prompting a call to the St. Charles Police Department. Randle later arrived and falsely claimed she did not handle mail in her role. 

She also made false statements to investigators, denying both access to mail and use of the vehicle.

Authorities ultimately determined that Randle stole 89 checks from dozens of victims and that an additional counterfeit check was created using information from one of the stolen items. 

The combined face value of the checks totaled $369,248.

What's next:

Randle is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 20, while Harrison is set for sentencing on June 3. Each faces up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both.