A North Texas man is facing at least one felony charge after United States Postal Inspectors say he racked up nearly $375,000 in debt on fraudulent credit cards he bought from a letter carrier who intercepted them while out for delivery.
The man, identified by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service as Loragecar Figaro, was arrested in South Arlington on Feb. 21 after postal inspectors and special agents arranged a meeting between him and the letter carrier.
The investigation began in December 2018 after Chase Bank reached out to the Postal Inspection Service after identifying a number of fraudulent applications for new accounts in Fort Worth's 76133 ZIP code. The cards, the bank learned, had been mailed to a number of addresses along the same postal route.
After the cards were mailed, investigators said, they were stolen and then used to make mulitple purchases totaling $374,000.
With the help fo the Inspector General, the carrier assigned to the route was identified. The carrier then told postal officials he met a man he only knew as "Figero" to asked him to intercept the cards for a fee. The carrier said he agreed and began stealing the cards and giving them to "Figero," the USPIS said.
On Feb. 20, the carrier notified a special agent with the USPS Inspector General's office that "Figero" had contacted him about nine more cards scheduled for delivery the following day.
On Feb. 21, the carrier called "Figero" and said he'd intercepted three of the cards and that the rest would likely come in the following days. The pair agreed to meet at a South Arlington gas station at 6 p.m. with "Figero" reminding the carrier that he had "something for him."
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Postal inspectors and special agents staged at the meeting spot and witnessed a man they later identified as Loragecar Figaro exit the passenger side of a Dodge Charger and walk to the vehicle driven by the letter carrier. After a few moments, Figaro exited the letter carrier's vehicle and got back into the Charger.
Postal inspectors and special agents then stopped the driver of the Charger as they left and ordered the driver and passenger out of the vehicle.
Upon inspection, a postal inspector found three piece of mail protruding from the right front pocket of Figaro's pants -- the postal inspector confirmed they were three cards given to him by the carrier. Officials said the agent then learned that Figaro paid the carrier $200 for the mail.
Figaro was placed under arrest on suspicion of paying to steal mail. The driver of the Charger, Roderick Deshun Turknett, was arrested on outstanding warrants in Arlington.
A number of other credit cards, none of which belonged to either Figaro or Turknett, were found in the car along with several mobile phones.
Turknett, who waived his Miranda rights, admitted to investigators that he had purchased laptop computers on multiple occasions for Figaro using the stolen cards, investigators said.
If convicted, Figaro faces up to five years behind bars and a $2,000 fine for each charge, according to the statute.
Postal Service officials have not said what charges, if any, the letter carrier will face.
