A former mail carrier faces decades behind bars after pleading guilty Aug. 11 to stealing checks and debit and credit cards for island vacations and to buy luxury goods, which she flaunted on Instagram, according to federal prosecutors.
Mary Ann Magdamit, 31, of Carson, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. She has been in federal custody since her arrest July 1.
U.S. District Judge John Walter, in Los Angeles, is set to sentence Magdamit Oct. 27. She faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
According to her plea agreement and court documents, Magdamit allegedly stole mail containing checks, personal identifying information, and debit and credit cards while working as a U.S. Postal Service carrier in Torrance, Calif., from at least 2022 to July 2025.
Prosecutors say she activated the stolen bank-issued cards online, used the cards to make purchases, and sold some of the cards to her co-conspirators.
She also allegedly arranged to have her co-conspirators cash the stolen checks, usually by people using fake identity documents in the name of the check’s payee.
“Federally insured banks and credit unions were victimized in this scheme,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported.
In December 2024, Law enforcement searched Magdamit’s apartment and allegedly seized 133 stolen credit and debit cards, 16 U.S. Department of Treasury checks, and a loaded, unmarked Glock-clone firearm with an extended 27-round magazine, commonly known as a “ghost gun.”
Agents also reported finding luxury goods during the search that were purchased with credit cards Magdamit allegedly stole from the mail.
She was also accused of using stolen credit cards to fund international travel to Turks and Caicos Islands, and Aruba.
Agents arrested Magdamit six months after the first search, when they said she continued to make purchases with stolen credit cards.
Magdamit posted photos of her luxury purchases and island vacations on Instagram, and flaunted stacks of hundred-dollar bills, according to prosecutors.
U.S. Postal Service mail vehicles in a file photograph. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
She has agreed to forfeit a Rolex watch and other luxury goods, authorities reported. Magdamit could not be reached for comment about the plea arrangement.
The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the U.S. Treasury Inspector General of Tax Administration investigated the case.
Mail theft has been on the rise, according to the latest report by the USPS Office of the Inspector General.
“While incidences of mail theft by non-postal employees are higher compared to internal mail theft cases, our Office of Investigation meets the challenge of rooting our bad apples who sully the public’s trust in the Postal Service by stealing, delaying, or destroying the mail,” the agency reported in its semiannual fall 2024 report to Congress.
From April 1 to Sept. 30, 2024, the agency made 258 arrests for mail theft, according to the report, resulting in more than $3 million in fines, restitution, and recoveries. The office also took 460 administrative actions and made 276 indictments.
