Three accomplices have received prison terms in connection with a scheme to cash money orders stolen from the U.S. Postal Service. (Photo: Jim Walsh/Staff photographer) 
 
 CAMDEN – A former postal worker escaped prison for orchestrating a scheme to cash stolen money orders, but his middlemen weren’t so fortunate. 
 
 A federal judge has sentenced the last of three accomplices to prison, ordering Anthony Bell, 39, of Philadelphia to spend a year and a day in custody for his role in the 15-month scheme. 
 
 That followed prison terms of 20 months for Eugene Bowen, 36, of Knoxville, Tennessee, and nine months for Andre Sutton, 39, whose address was not available. 
 
 More: Ex-postal worker admits he burned 20 tubs of mail 
 
 In contrast, the scheme’s organizer, 40-year-old Marc Saunders of Sicklerville, received a five-year probationary sentence last month, including eight months of home confinement. 
 
 Saunders was ordered to pay restitution of almost $100,000. 
 
 The middlemen also were ordered to make restitution — about $22,400 for Bell, $18,500 for Bowen and $4,700 for Sutton. 
 
 Postmaster left printer unguarded 
 
 Three men have received prison terms in connection with the theft of U.S. Postal Service money orders. (Photo: Jim Walsh/Staff photographer) 
 
 A 13-page affidavit filed in federal court in Camden says a postmaster’s errors set the stage for thefts that eventually reached some $100,000. 
 
 It says the manager of the New Lisbon post office in rural Pemberton Township failed to return a machine that printed money orders when the Postal Service introduced new technology in February 2013. 
 
 The postmaster, who was transferred to another office in June 2013, also neglected to destroy about 180 loose money orders that could be printed with the outdated machine, the affidavit says. 
 
 Saunders began working more than a year later at the Pemberton office, where the printing machine — too big for the postmaster’s safe — had been stored in a cabinet, according to the affidavit by David Bannon, a special agent with the Office of Inspector General at the Postal Service. 
 
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 The Postal Service began investigating in late 2015, after people started cashing stolen money orders at post offices in the Philadelphia area, the affidavit says. 
 
 Bannon said serial numbers on the money orders led him to the Pemberton Township office on rural Four Mile Road, where he learned the imprinting machine had vanished. 
 
 According to the affidavit, Bannon then realized the stolen money orders carried ZIP codes — imprinted by the stolen machine — for post offices “all over the United States.” 
 
 None, however, were marked with New Lisbon’s ZIP code. 
 
 As a result, Bannon suspected a postal employee had stolen the machine from New Lisbon and was repeatedly changing its ZIP code setting to divert attention from that branch. 
 
 Social media ties accomplices together 
 
 Most of the money orders were cashed at post offices in the Philadelphia area, but 22 were passed in Knoxville, where Bowen allegedly recruited residents of homeless shelters to conduct the transactions. 
 
 Nine orders were cashed in post offices around York, Pennsylvania, and one in Jersey City. 
 
 The August 2017 affidavit noted about 50 money orders never surfaced — and the printing machine remained missing. 
 
 Investigators were able to identify lower-level participants, who cashed the money orders for a fee. They then linked their cellphones and Facebook pages to those used by Saunders and the middlemen, the affidavit says. 
 
 More: Mailman hoarded more than 17,000 pieces of mail, authorities say 
 
 It notes one alleged ring member, identified only as M.M., passed a stolen money order in September 2015 — and at the same time bought a legitimate order made out to Saunders, then a Mount Laurel resident. 
 
 The affidavit also notes the men shared family ties and childhood connections. 
 
 It says Bowen and Saunders are cousins, while Sutton told investigators he grew up in the same neighborhood as Bell, attended high school with Saunders, and used to play football with Bowen. 
 
 The affidavit also says Bannon received two faxed letters in June 2017 from Bowen and a payee that used language from the “sovereign citizens” movement to challenge his authority and that of the court system. 
 
 Bell was sentenced July 25, one day after Saunders received his probationary term. Bowen and Sutton were sentenced in June. 
 
 All of the men were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Joseph Rodriguez. 
 
 Follow Jim Walsh on Twitter: @jimwalsh_cp 
 
 Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2vGkHGX ||||| CAMDEN, N.J. – A Knoxville, Tennessee, man was sentenced today to 20 months in prison for recruiting individuals to cash fraudulent money orders that he received from a former South Jersey U.S. Postal Service (USPS) employee, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced. 
 
 Eugene Bowen, 35, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez to an information charging him with one count of transmitting and presenting unlawfully issued USPS money orders with intent to defraud the United States. Judge Rodriguez imposed the sentence today in Camden federal court. 
 
 According to the documents filed in this case and statements made in court: 
 
 Bowen admitted that Marc Saunders, 40, of Sicklerville, New Jersey, a former employee at the USPS branch in New Lisbon, New Jersey, provided him with stolen money orders and told him to recruit others to cash them. Bowen admitted that he recruited individuals to cash the money orders and paid them a small fee, while keeping the rest of the money for Saunders and himself. 
 
 In addition to the prison term, Judge Rodriguez sentenced Bowen to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution of $18,470. 
 
 On Dec. 12, 2017, Saunders pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme, including producing the money orders with a stolen imprinting machine and giving them to others to cash. His sentencing is scheduled for July 24, 2018. 
 
 Acting U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the USPS, Office of the Inspector General, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Kenneth M. Cleevely of the Eastern Area Field Office, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing. 
 
 The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alyson M. Oswald of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Camden. 
 
 
 
 Defense counsel: John Brennan Esq., Marlton, New Jersey ||||| ATLANTA – The last defendant of a group of 16 U.S. Postal Service letter carriers and clerks from across the Atlanta area was sentenced to federal prison for accepting bribes to deliver packages of cocaine – two kilograms or more at a time – in a wide-reaching undercover operation. The defendants were willing to make the deliveries for bribes as low as $250, and received sentences of between three and nine years in prison. 
 
 “U.S. Postal Service workers are typically valuable members of the community, entrusted to deliver the mail every day to our homes,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “This important operation identified and prosecuted 16 corrupt individuals who chose to abuse that trust and instead used their positions to bring what they thought were large amounts of dangerous drugs into those same communities for a quick payoff.” 
 
 “The FBI places a high priority on public corruption based investigations and we hope this sentencing will serve as a deterrent for others,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office. “The blatant abuse of the public trust in this case not only stains the reputation of all U.S. Postal Service employees, but it puts the residents on their routes in significant danger by bringing drugs into their community.” 
 
 “Postal employees are paid to deliver mail, not drugs,” said Imari R. Niles, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Capital Metro Area Field Office. “The vast majority of the Postal Service’s 600,000 employees are hard-working, trustworthy individuals. When postal employees decide to risk their job, benefits, retirement, and freedom to get involved with drug trafficking, Special Agents of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General will work with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Attorney's Office to put them all in federal prison.” 
 
 “Drug trafficking, in itself, is an inherently dangerous crime,” said Sherry Boston, DeKalb County District Attorney. “When perpetrated by those in positions of public trust, citizen safety is severely compromised. The DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to ferret out cases of public corruption and ensure that those who abuse their authority and violate the public’s trust, are held accountable for their actions.” 
 
 According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the charges and other information presented in court: In 2015, federal agents involved in the dismantling of a drug trafficking organization in Atlanta learned that drug traffickers had been bribing postal workers to intercept and specially deliver packages of drugs while they were on their regular routes, including through residential neighborhoods. The drug traffickers believed the postal workers were less likely to be caught by law enforcement because of their official jobs, and found that the corrupt postal workers were willing to hand deliver the drugs in exchange for bribes. That criminal partnership exploited the U.S. Postal Service to deliver dangerous drugs into the community, and also increased the risk that innocent postal workers and bystanders on their routes would be exposed to the dangerous substances or to rival drug traffickers who sometimes try to rob postal workers to steal packages of drugs. 
 
 To catch the corrupt postal workers, federal agents used a confidential source who posed as a drug trafficker looking for postal workers to deliver packages of kilogram quantities of cocaine or marijuana. The defendants agreed to deliver the packages and negotiated the amount of the bribes they would charge, while law enforcement agents watched from a distance and recorded the interactions. All the defendants chose to deliver cocaine instead of marijuana, believing they could charge a higher bribe for packages of cocaine. They also agreed to deliver packages on multiple occasions over a period of time. When the confidential source asked if they knew any other postal workers who did the same thing, some of the defendants introduced the confidential source to coworkers who also wanted to deliver packages (with the defendant claiming an additional bribe for every package their recruit delivered). 
 
 The defendants convicted as a result of this operation include: 
 
 Cydra Rochelle Alexander, 33, of Riverdale, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the Ralph McGill Carrier Annex and Central City Branch of the Atlanta Post Office was sentenced to five years, 10 months in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release, and ordered to pay forfeiture in the amount of $4,500 by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May on February 22, 2018. Alexander pleaded guilty to these charges on November 27, 2017. 
 
 
 
 Aurthamis O. Burch, a/k/a Tank, 47, of Snellville, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the Doraville Post Office was sentenced to three years, 10 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay forfeiture in the amount of $1,500 by U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones on April 10, 2018. Burch pleaded guilty to these charges on December 11, 2017. 
 
 
 
 Kawana Rashun Champion, 36, of Jonesboro, Georgia, a clerk assigned to the North Springs Branch of the Sandy Springs Post Office and Central City Branch of the Atlanta Post Office was sentenced to nine years in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release, and ordered to pay forfeiture in the amount of $10,500 by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May on May 11, 2018. Champion pleaded guilty to these charges on February 20, 2018. 
 
 
 
 Eleanor Lolita Golden, a/k/a Eleanor Johnson, 55, of East Point, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the West End Branch of the Atlanta Post Office was sentenced to six years in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $4,500 by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May on May 17, 2018. Golden pleaded guilty to these charges on December 20, 2017. 
 
 
 
 Tonie Harris, 55, of Decatur, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the Sandy Springs Post Office was sentenced to three years, one month in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,450 by U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones on August 14, 2018. Harris pleaded guilty to these charges on March 20, 2018. 
 
 
 
 Leea Janel Holt, 39, of Atlanta, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the Old National Branch of the Riverdale Post Office was sentenced to 6 years, 6 months in prison to be followed by 4 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $4,500 by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May on November 27, 2018. Holt pleaded guilty to these charges on June 6 and August 28, 2018. 
 
 
 
 Clifton Curtis Lee, a/k/a Cliff, 43, of Lithonia, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the Sandy Springs Post Office was sentenced to three years, 10 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,800 by U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones on June 18, 2018. Lee pleaded guilty to these charges on February 28, 2018. 
 
 
 
 Shakeed Anilah Magee, 41, of College Park, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the West End Branch of the Atlanta Post Office was sentenced to five years in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $3,000 by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May on February 13, 2018. Magee pleaded guilty to these charges on November 14, 2017. 
 
 
 
 Horace Manson, 41, of Roswell, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the West End Branch of the Atlanta Post Office was sentenced to three years, 10 months in prison to be followed by two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $3,000 by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May on April 17, 2018. Manson pleaded guilty to these charges on January 29, 2018. 
 
 
 
 Olivia Marita Moore, 26, of Atlanta, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the Old National Branch of the Riverdale Post Office was sentenced to five years, 10 months in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $4,500 by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May on July 16, 2018. Moore pleaded guilty to these charges on January 5, 2018. 
 
 
 
 Eddie Nash, 64, of Decatur, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the West End Branch of the Atlanta Post Office was sentenced to five years in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $3,000 by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May on July 17, 2018. Nash pleaded guilty to these charges on December 14, 2017. 
 
 
 
 Jeffrey A. Pearson, 61, of Austell, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the Decatur Post Office was sentenced to four years, nine months in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,000 by U.S. District Judge Eleanor L. Ross on May 22, 2018. Pearson pleaded guilty to these charges on February 1, 2018. 
 
 
 
 Rodney Antwain Salter, 34, of Jonesboro, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the Martech Branch of the Atlanta Post Office was sentenced to five years in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $3,000 by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May on May 17, 2018. Salter pleaded guilty to these charges on December 20, 2017. 
 
 
 
 Frank Webb, 41, of Lithonia, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the Central City Branch of the Atlanta Post Office was sentenced to three years, four months in prison to be followed by two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay forfeiture in the amount of $3,000 by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May on May 16, 2018. Webb pleaded guilty to these charges on January 30, 2018. 
 
 
 
 Katrina Nicole Wilson, a/k/a Trina, 39, of Fairburn, Georgia, a letter carrier assigned to the West End Branch of the Atlanta Post Office was sentenced to eight years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $9,500 by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May on August 27, 2018. Wilson pleaded guilty to these charges on April 12, 2018. 
 
 
 
 Harvel Donta Young, a/k/a Dante, 41, of Atlanta, Georgia a letter carrier assigned to the Westside Annex Branch of the Marietta Post Office was sentenced to five years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,800 by U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones on August 14, 2018. Young pleaded guilty to these charges on May 1, 2018. 
 
 Additionally, Dexter Bernard Frazier, a/k/a Dec, 57, of Fairburn, Georgia, who was not a postal employee but participated in some of the package deliveries by connecting the confidential source with postal workers, was sentenced to nine years in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $10,700 by U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones on June 13, 2018. Frazier pleaded guilty to these charges on March 6, 2018. 
 
 This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office, and U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General. 
 
 Assistant U.S Attorneys Garrett L. Bradford and Jill E. Steinberg, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division, prosecuted the case. 
 
 The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta recommends parents and children learn about the dangers of drugs at the following web site: www.justthinktwice.gov .
– A neglected printing machine and nearly 200 blank money-order forms caught the eye of Marc Saunders sometime after he started working at the Postal Service's New Lisbon, NJ, branch in 2014. Four years later, Saunders has been hit with a five-year probation and ordered to pay the agency back almost $100,000 after he pleaded guilty to orchestrating a scheme in which he printed fraudulent money orders and gave them to others to cash, the Cherry Hill Courier-Post reports. Saunders' accomplices, who helped him find people to cash the money orders (including residents of homeless shelters), fared worse on the prison front: Anthony Bell, 39, was given a year and a day behind bars and a $22,400 restitution bill; Eugene Bowen, 36, a 20-month prison sentence and $18,500 restitution; and Andre Sutton, 39, a nine-month sentence and $4,700 restitution. An affidavit filed in Camden federal court by David Bannan, a special agent for the USPS' Office of Inspector General, details how the New Lisbon branch phased out the old money-order machine in 2013. Because it couldn't fit inside the office safe, however, the New Lisbon postmaster placed it inside a cabinet; it remained there when she moved to another branch later that year. The agent details his "evidence pointing to an inside job," noting Saunders ran his scheme between August 2015 and December 2016. Most of the money orders were cashed in the Philly area, as well as in Knoxville, Tenn. Once the stolen money orders started to emerge, Bannan traced the serial numbers to the New Lisbon office, where the machine had gone missing. Investigators then tied people who did the cashing to the suspects via their Facebook connections and cellphone info.