Former U.S. Postal Service employee Dewayne Morris Sr. and his son, Dewayne Morris Jr., have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms for their involvement in a massive $5.1 million postal fraud scheme, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of California. Morris Sr. was sentenced to seven years in prison, while Morris Jr. was sentenced to 12.5 years.
Morris Sr. stole postal money order forms from a post office that he supervised, and his son, Morris Jr., distributed these stolen forms to co-conspirators. The two orchestrated a scheme in which eight other defendants were previously convicted for converting the stolen money orders into cash by depositing them in banks across the United States.
Co-conspirators testified that Morris Jr. supplied them with counterfeit driver’s licenses and postal money orders, enabling them to open bank accounts, deposit the stolen money orders, and withdraw the funds. Witnesses also confirmed that Morris Jr. traveled out of state to cash the money orders and kept the majority of the proceeds, corroborated by airline records.
Bank records showed that Morris Jr. deposited over $2 million in cash from the fraudulent scheme. He used the stolen funds to purchase luxury cars, including a Mercedes-Benz AMG GT, and funded extravagant trips to Costa Rica, Grand Cayman, and Los Cabos, Mexico.
In addition to the fraud charges, Morris Jr. was convicted of witness tampering during his pretrial release. He attempted to coerce a witness into denying the receipt of the stolen money orders, as evidenced by threatening text messages and video recordings.
This case highlights the far-reaching consequences of postal fraud and the severe penalties for those who exploit their positions for personal gain. The sentences handed down to Morris Sr. and Jr. serve as a reminder of the serious legal ramifications involved in such criminal activities.
