U.S. Postal Service Employees Nabbed for Stealing Drugs

CHICAGO—A pair of U.S. Postal Service employees seem destined for federal prison after they confessed to stealing narcotics from packages at an O'Hare International Airport mail center, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Aramis Brown and Zaphronsia Wheeler of Chicago—employees in the airport's International Service Center—stole from at least 16 packages during seven thefts, the newspaper reported, citing a statement from the U.S. attorney's office. They were arrested Wednesday morning and confessed to the crimes.

Wheeler admitted to authorities that he would purposely mis-sort packages and Brown would then open them up and remove the contents, which included marijuana.

Both men were charged with mail theft and narcotics offenses and released on $4,500 bonds. They face a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, if convicted.

Wheeler admitted to making more than $13,000 from selling narcotics that he and Brown had stolen from the mail. Brown confessed that he had been rooting through the mail—opening packages he suspected contained drugs based on smell and the package's address—since earlier this year.

Wheeler kept an empty backpack in the employee locker room and, if it was full by the end of his work shift, he knew Brown had stolen drugs from the parcels, according to the affidavits filed in U.S. District Court.

Assisting in the investigation were the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.