Postal worker stole over 370 mailed checks, deposited $150K, feds say. She pleads

A postal worker accused of stealing hundreds of checks from the mail and forging them went on the run, and now she’s pleaded guilty in Connecticut after her 2024 arrest, authorities said.

Kierra Blount, 35, of Stamford, was working for the U.S. Postal Service when she began stealing someone’s identity and opened up a bank account in their name in November 2021, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.

She forged checks stolen from the mail and made them out to the identity theft victim, then she deposited $156,882 worth of checks into that account controlled by her, prosecutors wrote in court documents.

McClatchy News reached out to her attorney for comment on the plea Sept. 2 but did not immediately receive a response.

Blount used the money to pay her rent, go shopping at Saks and Belk, order from Amazon and UberEats and make a $15,750 payment to a used car dealership, records show. She also withdrew cash from the account at ATMs in New York City and Connecticut, investigators said.

Blount deposited money into the account until April 2022, when the bank shut it down and reversed over $70,000 worth of the fraudulent deposits, prosecutors said.

She’s expected to pay restitution for the remaining $81,975 that was successfully deposited, according to the plea agreement.

A search of her apartment in June 2023 led to the discovery of approximately 400 stolen checks worth over $285,000, authorities said. Over 370 came from one company, while investigators also found financial documents, mail, debit cards and U.S. Treasury checks belonging to other people, according to a plea agreement.

Investigators went through her phones and found she had been using the messaging app Telegram to share photos of the stolen checks and discuss buying and selling them, authorities said. App records showed photos of 315 checks were sent by Blount or shared with her, according to prosecutors.

“Moreover, Telegram communications showed that Blount shared videos and images with others depicting bags filled with stolen mail,” prosecutors wrote.

Investigators said they found photos of $980,430 worth of checks on one phone and photos of $888,938 worth of checks on another.

After Blount was indicted in March 2024, law enforcement went looking for her, records show. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service released a wanted poster offering $100,000 for information leading to her arrest, McClatchy News previously reported.

She was taken into custody in June 2024, authorities said.

Blount pleaded guilty to bank fraud and unlawful possession of stolen mail, prosecutors said.

Now living in Plymouth, North Carolina, she’s been released on bond until her sentencing, which is scheduled for Dec. 9, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.