Former U.S. Postal Service employee Dewayne Morris Sr. and his son, Dewayne Morris Jr., were sentenced today for their roles in a large-scale theft operation involving stolen postal money order forms.
Morris Sr. was sentenced to seven years in prison for stealing the money orders from a post office he supervised, while Morris Jr. received a 12.5-year sentence for distributing the stolen forms and facilitating the laundering of the proceeds. The theft amounted to $5.1 million in postal money orders.
Morris Jr. supplied co-conspirators with the stolen money orders and counterfeit driver’s licenses to open bank accounts.
These accounts were used to deposit the money orders, which were then cashed out. Morris Jr. participated in out-of-state trips to cash the stolen money orders, keeping a large portion of the proceeds.
Bank records revealed that he deposited over $2 million in cash into his accounts. He used the funds to purchase luxury cars, such as a Mercedes-Benz AMG GT, and financed extravagant trips to Costa Rica, Grand Cayman, and Los Cabos, Mexico.
Additionally, Morris Jr. was convicted of witness tampering while on pretrial release. The prosecution presented evidence, including threatening text messages and videos, showing him trying to coerce a witness into denying involvement with the stolen money orders.
This case highlights the serious consequences of orchestrating and participating in organized theft schemes, as well as the impact of such crimes on both financial institutions and public trust.