12/17/2020 BOSTON – A Florida man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston in connection with the fraudulent abuse of the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) Informed Delivery electronic notification system.
photo credit: USPS
Fred Alcius, 28, of Lauderhill, Fla., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani scheduled sentencing for March 26, 2021.
In June 2019, Alcius was indicted along with co-defendant Lucson Appolon, who previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years in prison. Co-conspirators Peter Belony and Kevens Louis were previously sentenced to 24 and 27 months in prison, respectively.
Informed Delivery is a free electronic notification service provided by the USPS that gives residential and P.O. Box customers the ability to digitally preview their incoming mail and manage their packages.
The defendants accessed victims’ personal identifying information, including names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and addresses on the “dark web” and then used the information to open credit cards in the victims’ names. The defendants then subscribed to Informed Delivery using the victims’ personal identifying information and a fraudulent email address created to track the delivery of credit cards to the victims’ residential mailboxes. The defendants subsequently intercepted the credit cards at the victims’ mailboxes before the victims could receive them and used those credit cards at ATMs and to purchase gift cards and other items for resale at Apple and Walmart, among other retail establishments. The defendants traveled to states up and down the East Coast in furtherance of the fraud, including Maine and Massachusetts.
The charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison, to be served consecutive to any other sentence imposed, one year of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Joseph W. Cronin, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mackenzie A. Queenin of Lelling’s Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.