Updated: January 6, 2020
On November 7, 2019, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York announced that a former postal employee had been indicted for stealing iPhones and other valuable items from the mail.
John R. Elbayeh, 43, of Albany, was a mail processing clerk at the U.S. Postal Service Processing and Distribution Center in Albany from December 2012 to December 2018.
According to court records, Elbayeh was targeted for surveillance based on allegations that he was stealing mail.
On December 19, 2018, federal agents arranged for a letter containing $25 cash and a $25 gift card to be placed in the normal stream of mail. They watched Elbayeh remove the cash from the envelope and place it in his pocket. He was arrested immediately.
Elbayeh admitted that he had been stealing valuable items from the mail and selling them for cash at pawn shops for around two years.
He stole cellphones, cash, coins, gold, and jewelry. Elbayeh stole at least eight iPhones and two Google Pixel phones during a six-month period in 2018 alone.
Shortly after his arrest, he fled to Beirut, Lebanon. Elbayeh was caught reentering the country at Dulles International Airport around ten months later in October 2019.
A federal judge ordered him to be detained pending trial.
Elbayeh pleads guilty to stealing mail
On December 20, 2019, Elbayeh pled guilty to one count of theft of mail matter by a postal employee. He admitted that he received more than $50,000 from selling stolen items.
According to the plea agreement, Elbayeh is facing up to 5 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to 3 years of supervised release.
The government agreed to dismiss the other charges pending against him.
The court may order Elbayeh to pay restitution to the victims.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 17, 2020.