Omaha man sentenced to 5 years of probation for stealing mail

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - An Omaha man that admitted to stealing mail as a United States Postal Service employee was sentenced to probation today.

Austin M. Thomas, 30, was sentenced to five years of probation in federal court for theft of mail by a postal employee. Federal agents reported a loss of about $5,829 and were able to link 222 pieces of stolen mail.

An investigation by the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General started in 2019 when agents found a blue postal collection box of open mail in East Omaha. According to the release, they learned the mail was a majority of greeting cards in West Omaha that were “stolen, opened, and dumped in East Omaha.”

Thomas was a Lead Sales and Services Associate for USPS and was identified as a suspect when agents tracked a stolen gift card from one of the stolen mail.

He admitted to stealing mail from the West Omaha Postal Station in an interview. As required, Thomas will pay restitution.

Bags of opened mail were found at Norwick Park in the trash by a city employee. Later on, someone else found two more bags at the same park.