Joplin man sent to prison on stolen mail-related charges
Sep. 30—SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — The male half of a Joplin couple convicted in federal court of fraud and identity theft involving stolen mail was sentenced Monday to three years and seven months in prison.
U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool assessed 28-year-old Aaron M. Blake the sentence in federal court in Springfield on convictions for conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft and ordered him to pay his victims $12,482 in restitution.
Blake had pleaded guilty to the charges Feb. 13. His co-defendant in the case, Emily A. Sturgis, 31, pleaded guilty July 22 to conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud and to bank fraud and is awaiting sentencing.
The couple have admitted stealing mail out of mailboxes and off porches from December 2022 to Jan. 26, 2023. The thefts involved credit and debit cards, checks, cash, jewelry and various documents containing names, birth dates, Social Security numbers and bank account information, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Springfield.
A news release announcing the sentencing stated that they stole Pandora jewelry from one mailbox and a Christmas card containing a $500 check from another mailbox and used stolen credit cards to make various purchases.
Blake and Sturgis also used personal information obtained in this manner to open credit card accounts and bank accounts under other people's names as a way of making other fraudulent purchases.
The dollar amount of their attempted thefts were put at $13,845, with the pair succeeding in illegally obtaining at least $12,482, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
