Anchorage, Alaska - U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced today that an Anchorage man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for obstructing U.S. mail parcels and stealing cell phones from the packages, as well as being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The indictment returned by the grand jury alleges that Jermaine N. Sails, 41, of Anchorage, took numerous parcels containing cell phones from the U.S. mail beginning in October 2016, and continuing until Aug. 30, 2017. Approximately 400 cell phones with an approximate value of $50,000 were reported as missing from the U.S. mail during this timeframe. Sails was employed by a private contractor which handled U.S. mail parcels - including those containing cell phones which were being mailed back to service providers for return or repairs.
On Aug. 30, 2017, Sails was confronted by special agents with the United States Postal Service, Office of Inspector General, concerning the missing cell phones. Sails, who had been convicted of a felony assault charge in Alaska state court in 2004, was found in possession of a 9mm semi-automatic handgun at that time.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Bottini, if convicted of the mail obstruction charge, Sails faces a prison sentence of up to 5 years. If convicted of the felon in possession of a firearm charge, Sails faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
The United States Postal Service, Office of Inspector General, conducted the investigation leading to the indictment in this case.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
