There are porch pirates all over New Jersey — Even on Dennis’ porch!
I ordered some stuff on Amazon and two of the three items came quickly. but the third did not. Then I noticed an email from Amazon with a picture of the missing item in my mailbox. I could tell it was my mailbox because I could see my house in the background.
They asked, "Is this picture ok? Do you want us to not do this in the future?" I thought, I don't care. Take all the pictures you want. The problem was the package wasn't there when I checked the mailbox the next day.
The box with the other two items was on my porch, but the item that was pictured in the mailbox was nowhere to be found. I notified Amazon and they immediately refunded my money and I ordered the product again and it came two days later.
I was just amazed that no one has ever taken a box off of my porch, but someone took dishwashing liquid from my mailbox. It is a federal crime, because your mailbox is federal property. Yes, it is. The fine can be up to $250,00 dollars and you can go to prison for up to five years. This is according to Title 18 Section 1708.
Section 1708 of Title 18 describes the penalties for possessing stolen postal property such as mail. This section imposes a greater jail sentence on violators. From the U.S. Code: "Whoever buys, receives, or conceals, or unlawfully has in his possession, any letter, postal card, package, bag, or mail, or any article or thing contained therein, which has been so stolen, taken, embezzled, or abstracted, as herein described, knowing the same to have been stolen, taken, embezzled, or abstracted...Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
So make sure to be aware of packages being dropped off on you front step this time of year. But also know some idiots are even bold enough to go into your mailbox, EVEN FOR DISHWASHING LIQUID!
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