Melissa Elliott Of Binghamton Convicted On 14 Counts
BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK - Melissa Elliott of Binghamton, a 27 year old former U.S. Postal Employee, was convicted on Friday by a federal jury in Binghamton, New York of 14 counts relating to Bank Fraud, Aggravated Identity Theft, and Theft and Destruction of Mail. The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Special Agent-in-Charge Eileen Neff, Northeast Area Field Office, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General.
The jury convicted Elliott of Bank Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft, finding that between July 2014 and April 2015 she opened several bank credit card accounts, and obtained credit cards from financial institutions, by stealing and using the identity, including the social security number and date of birth, of a woman Elliott knew. Elliott then used the cards to fraudulently make purchases and pay personal debts amounting to over $57,000.
The jury also found Elliott guilty of Theft of Mail and Destruction of Mail for destroying and stealing mail while she worked as a postal clerk at the Cortland postal facility in December 2015 and January of 2016. Elliott destroyed some of the mail entrusted to her, and stole the contents of some of that mail, including gift cards and cash.
Elliott will be sentenced by Hon. Thomas J. McAvoy on Nov. 20, 2017. She faces a maximum sentence of 30 years imprisonment and a $1,000,000 fine for Bank Fraud, with a mandatory 2-year consecutive imprisonment term for Aggravated Identity Theft, and a maximum term of 5 years imprisonment for the Theft and Destruction of U.S. Mail. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.
This case was investigated by U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Miroslav Lovric.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
