RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Federal prosecutors in North Carolina say a man has been sentenced to more than 3 years in prison for a methodical scheme to steal checks and credit cards from people’s mailboxes while they slept.
34-year-old Erik Magana of Charlotte was sentenced to 42 months in prison Tuesday for the scheme that defrauded banks of more than $77,000.
They say he stole mail from at least 1,300 people in North Carolina and South Carolina from 2016 until late 2018.
Authorities say he hoarded numerous pieces of mail that filled every room of his apartment.
Officials say they found items ranging from theater tickets to passports inside the stolen mail that never got to the intended recipients.
Magana will also have to pay over $77,300 in restitution.
