A former metro-Atlanta postal employee has pleaded guilty to obstruction of the U.S. mail after stealing gift cards and cash from more than 15 letters addressed to residents in Duluth, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.
Markeyta McAllister, 30, of Jefferson, was charged Nov. 23 and pleaded guilty Thursday, U.S. Attorney BJay Pak wrote in a news release.
“While most U.S. Postal Service employees serve Americans with integrity and honesty, McAllister did not,” Pak said.
According to authorities, McAllister, who served as a mail processing clerk, was responsible for sorting parcels deliverable to residents in Duluth from July 2014 to December 2019.
As a U.S. Postal Service employee, she pledged to “preserve and protect the security of all mail in (her) custody from unauthorized opening, inspection, tampering, delay, reading of the contents or covers, or other unauthorized acts,” Pak said.
McAllister stole cash and prepaid gift cards from at least 15 letters that weren’t addressed to her in 2019, authorities said.
For instance, she stole three prepaid Visa cards worth about $375 from three separate letters between September and October of last year. Video surveillance footage caught McAllister using one of the cards at a Kroger in Jefferson, Pak said.
On Dec. 3, 2019, McAllister admitted to federal law enforcement officers that she stole prepaid/gift cards from the mail. Federal agents discovered two gift card sleeves, three prepaid cards, several store receipts for purchases made with prepaid/gift cards and two opened envelopes belonging to someone else in her vehicle.
“By opening peoples’ mail to steal money and gift cards, McAllister betrayed both the citizens she supposedly served and the reputation of her fellow employees,” Pak said.
Authorities haven’t released the date of McAllister’s sentencing.
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