A United States Postal Service employee in Sugar Land is behind bars, accused of stealing mail. A source confirmed to KPRC 2 News that law enforcement is now looking into whether he specifically targeted envelopes containing checks.
The Sugar Land Police Department confirmed officers arrested 32-year-old Jeland Mouton on Monday night just a couple of blocks from the post office on Matlage Way, where a law enforcement source tells KPRC 2 News he worked.
That source said Mouton was stopped as he was leaving work and had hundreds of pieces of stolen mail inside his personal car.
Law enforcement is now investigating whether he specifically sought out envelopes that appeared to contain checks.
One of the people investigators contacted about the arrest Tuesday is Eric Hanson, who may have been a victim in the alleged check theft scheme after he used the Sugar Land post office on Grants Lake Boulevard in October.
Hanson said he dropped two checks in the mail to pay bills and, days later, logged into his bank account.
“Two days later, I opened up my bank account — empty,” Hanson said. “One was $67, the other one was like $130… I’m $7,000 in the hole.”
He shared images of the checks with KPRC 2 News, which he said show the payee names altered and the amounts drastically increased by the time they hit his account.
Hanson reported what happened to Sugar Land police and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. He said he also contacted his congressman.
Five months later, on Tuesday, he got a call from investigators telling him a postal employee had been arrested in connection with his case.
“You feel so stupid when you’re victimized like that — like I should have known better,” Hanson said. “And then you get angry. Here you have a government employee who stole it.”
Hanson said his bank eventually reimbursed the stolen money, but the experience shook his trust in the mail.
“It makes you feel like we can’t trust the post offices. That’s pretty bad,” he said. “I don’t write any checks, and I certainly would not mail them… I learned my lesson.”
As of Tuesday night, Mouton was in the Fort Bend County Jail and is expected to appear before a magistrate Wednesday morning, when his bond is expected to be set.
Harris County court records show Mouton previously pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon nearly a decade ago, when he was 23 years old.
The USPS has not confirmed how long Mouton has been employed.
The agency provided the following statement regarding Mouton:
“We can confirm this individual is employed with the Postal Service and is currently in a non-duty status. Due to privacy issues, the Postal Service does not publicly discuss personnel matters.”