ST. LOUIS - A man from St. Louis County, Missouri on Friday admitted buying and then re-selling business and personal checks stolen from U.S. Postal Service collection boxes.
Dennis Cooperwood Jr., 19, of Country Club Hills, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge John A. Ross to one felony count of possession of stolen mail matter. Cooperwood admitted being in possession of about 179 business and personal checks on April 12 that had been taken from collection boxes.
That night, St. Louis County Police Department officers on patrol in the Spanish Lake area spotted a vehicle stopped in the middle of the road with multiple people standing at the windows. After the crowd dispersed and the vehicle drove away, officers stopped the vehicle and found Cooperwood in the back seat wearing a shoulder bag containing a gun and the checks. Cooperwood told officers that he bought stolen checks for $5 to $10 each and would scratch off the writing on the checks before re-selling them for $20 to $25.
Cooper is scheduled to be sentenced July 31. The possession of stolen mail matter charge carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.
The case was investigated by the St. Louis County Police Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow is prosecuting the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys