Armed US Postal Service inspectors bust $670K check washing mail scheme in NJ

📮 Two North Jersey men pleaded guilty after a scheme caused more than $670,000 in losses.

📮 Prosecutors say they used stolen USPS keys to “fish” checks from collection boxes.

📮  They then sold or altered the checks to fraudulently obtain money from financial institutions.

Two North Jersey men have admitted to a check-washing scheme that caused more than $670,000 in losses.

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On Wednesday, Leslie Blackwood, 25, of Irvington pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal checks from the mail in federal court in Newark. Blackwood's plea comes two months after co-conspirator Verly Antenor, 24, of Roselle Park pleaded guilty to the same crime.

Each man faces up to five years in prison. Blackwood is scheduled to be sentenced in February, while Antenor's sentencing is scheduled for December.

Men used stolen postal keys to “fish” for checks

Blackwood and Antenor worked the mail scheme between September 2021 and March 2022, according to U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer. They used stolen arrow keys to access post office boxes in Livingston and Clifton and steal checks, which they called "fishing." They called the stolen checks "food,” “grub,” or “slips.”

After they fished the grub out of the post office boxes, Blackwood and Antenor sold or altered the checks in a process called washing. Washing checks involves erasing the date, amount, memo, and recipient, then replacing that information so the washers can put a greater amount and give it to themselves.

Read More: NJ man charged with sexually assaulting kidnapped girl

(McConnell Adams, Townsquare Media Lansing)

Check-washing scheme caused $670,313 in losses

Blackwood and Antenor admitted they caused a loss of $670,313 in the seven months the scheme operated, according to Frazer.

Postal inspectors with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service spearheaded the investigation, according to Frazer. It's the country's oldest federal law enforcement agency.

The agency's postal inspectors are federal law enforcement agents who investigate mail crimes. Like other federal agents, they carry firearms, can execute searches, and make arrests.

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