CHESAPEAKE, Va. — A Norfolk man and two U.S. Postal Service employees have pleaded guilty to a mail fraud scheme that involved stealing and altering nearly $2 million in checks over several months, according to federal court documents.
Devon Drumgoole, 24, of Norfolk, admitted to his role in the operation alongside postal workers Darnelle Concepcion and Quasheda Jones. All three have pleaded guilty and are currently out on bond awaiting sentencing in federal court.
USPS officials confirmed that Concepcion worked in the Deep Creek area of Chesapeake from June 2019 to April 2024. Jones, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was employed by USPS from June 2019 until September 2024.
According to prosecutors, the scheme began in November 2022. Concepcion and Jones stole business checks from the mail on their postal routes and handed them over to Drumgoole. Drumgoole would then alter the checks and deposit them into accounts under his control.
Federal investigators reviewed bank records and customer complaints, discovering that over 75 checks worth about $1.3 million were stolen along Concepcion’s route in Chesapeake alone. In North Carolina, Jones passed along roughly 15 checks totaling around $650,000 to Drumgoole.
“This was a serious breach of public trust,” said Drumgoole’s attorney, Andrew Sacks, adding that his client fully acknowledges his wrongdoing. “The mail carriers are the ones who had the fiduciary duty to the public to carry the mail and not do something like this.”
The defendants’ sentencing dates are expected in the coming months.
