July 27, 2020
By: Staff Report
TAMPA, Fla. – United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announces the return of an indictment charging Jasmine Wynne (30, Ruskin) with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, five counts of aggravated identity theft, and one count of theft of a postal key. Wynne faces up to 30 years in federal prison for the conspiracy count, up to 2 years’ imprisonment for each identity theft count, and up to 10 years’ imprisonment for theft of a postal key. The indictment also notifies Wynne that the United States intends to forfeit assets used in the offense.
According to the indictment, Wynne, a Postal Clerk with the United States Postal Service (USPS) working at the St. Petersburg Retail Post Office location, conspired with others to defraud federally insured financial institutions. Wynne used her status and the special access she had as an USPS employee to open First-Class mail and to photograph personal identifying information (“PII”) and bank account information. Wynne then forwarded the photographs to co-conspirators for use in a bank fraud scheme. The indictment further alleges that Wynne also photographed United States Passport applications that was processed at her post office location to gain applicants’ PII and bank account information. She then forwarded that information to co-conspirators.
In addition, the indictment charges Wynne with using her position as a USPS employee to access and steal restricted postal arrow keys – special master keys that open USPS collection boxes, banks of mailboxes at apartment complexes, and any other mailbox keyed with an arrow lock. Wynne then provided the postal arrow keys to co-conspirators for use in the charged conspiracy.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has violated one or more of the federal criminal laws, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
This case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Craig Gestring.
