Former Postal Worker Fined for Mail Theft
A former rural letter-carrier has been fined $2,000 for stealing $500 gift cards from the mail. U.S. District Judge Walter Gex III also ordered 35-year-old Nikki Gardner of Picayune to repay $177. Gardner pleaded guilty in June to mail theft by a Postal Service employee. A federal indictment accused her of taking forty-three gift cards from November 2009 until January of this year while working in Hancock County. U.S. Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Sheila Wilbanks says the cards were worth a total of $21,500, but prosecutors were unable to identify many victims. Gardner could have gotten up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
