U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced former U.S. Postal Service letter carrier Devona Ursula Charley, age 27, of Washington, D.C., today to a year and a day in prison, followed by 6 months of home detention as part of three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana, and a bribery conspiracy.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Postal Inspector in Charge Gary R. Barksdale of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service – Washington Division; and Chief Mark A. Magaw of the Prince George’s County Police Department.
“The corruption of postal employees is a significant vulnerability in the system,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. “Through the coordinated efforts of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and other law enforcement agencies, we are investigating several cases involving letter carriers who took bribes to divert shipments of illegal drugs.”
According to her plea agreement, from at least September 2013 through April 2014, Charley, a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier, conspired with Dominique Jones and others to distribute marijuana. In addition, Charley admitted that she received money to deliver mail packages to Jones that were addressed to other people. Charley knew that the packages contained marijuana.
Specifically, Charley provided Jones with addresses for the shipment of packages along her postal route. Charley agreed to deliver the packages to Jones even though they were addressed to another person. Her co-conspirators agreed to pay Charley $350 per package. Based on the information provided by Charley, packages containing marijuana were shipped to the addresses provided by Charley. When the packages arrived at the post office, Charley picked up the packages and texted Jones. Jones and an associate then met Charley along her mail route and Charley delivered the packages.
Based upon her role in the conspiracy, Charley is responsible for the distribution of between 40 and 60 kilograms of marijuana which was valued at between $70,000 and $120,000.
Dominique Jones, age 29, of Oxon Hill, Maryland, previously pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy and was sentenced to 54 months in prison.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah A. Johnston, who prosecuted the case.