A former Billings U.S. Postal Service worker pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to one charge of theft of mail by an employee, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said in a news release.
Zachary Louis Simpson, 37, was accused of stealing mail when he tried to sell $850 worth of sports cards to a Billings sports memorabilia business that had tried to ship the cards to a different customer, according to Laslovich.
Simpson worked as a package sorter at the post office's Billings mail facility from March 27, 2023 to April 3, 2024. On March 12, 2024, the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General received a complaint about Simpson.
A sports memorabilia business in Billings told law enforcement that Simpson had come into the business to try to sell $850 worth of sports cards, according to federal prosecutors. Workers at the business realized they had tried to ship those same cards to a different customers through the mail, according to prosecutors.
Investigators determined those cards had moved through the mail facility when Simpson was working, and law enforcement searched the trash around his building. They found about 100 packages that were not addressed to Simpson and recovered more than 10,000 sports trading cards and other memorabilia, according to prosecutors.
Victims contacted by the Postal Service reported they had sent sports cards that had never reached their destination.
Simpson faces a a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. He was released pending sentencing before U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters.
