St. Petersburg postal clerk accused of running elaborate mail fraud scheme for 2 years

Postal clerk Jasmine Wynne, 30, of Ruskin, worked at a St. Petersburg post office, and for the last two years federal prosecutors say, she was running an elaborate and bold mail fraud scheme.

Tampa defense attorney Anthony Rickman reviewed the federal indictment for FOX 13. "It’s egregious the extent that this defendant and her co-defendants took to steal the identities of individuals," said Rickman.

According to federal prosecutors, Wynne had special access to first-class mail. They said she opened it and took pictures of personal banking information and passport applications that included the victim’s date of birth and Social Security number.

The scheme went even further. They said she stole master keys also known as "arrow keys" and postal uniforms and gave them to her co-conspirators.

"It’s very possible that these co-conspirators dressed up as United States postal workers using those stolen uniforms. Imagine seeing someone in a postal uniform thinking it’s a postal worker when it fact it’s a criminal stealing your mail stealing your identity," explained Rickman.

The government said Wynne and her co-defendants, possibly dressed as mail carriers, targeted high-end apartment complexes and used the “arrow keys” to unlock the bank of mailboxes and steal mail.

The indictment says Wynne would use the stolen banking information to make counterfeit checks and cash them. 

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's office told FOX 13 law enforcement has notified the victims about the identity theft.

Wynne faces conspiracy to commit bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and theft of a postal key. If convicted of all charges, she faces up to 50 years in prison.