1/28/2021 TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A man has been sentenced in Florida to six years and six months in federal prison for a $400,000 nationwide postal stamp scam, officials said.

Edward Morgan, 49, was sentenced Wednesday in Tampa federal court, according to court records. He pleaded guilty in September 2019 to theft of government funds. As part of his sentence, Morgan must repay $405,935.76, the proceeds of the theft.

From November 2016 until his May 2019 arrest in New Mexico, Morgan used fictitious checks to purchase stamps at hundreds of United States Post Office locations in Florida and other states, prosecutors said. Other post offices were located in Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

Prosecutors said Morgan resold the stamps to unsuspecting third parties, usually businesses or stamp traders. Morgan often posed as a business professional during his visits to the post offices, investigators said. During the course of the scheme, Morgan used the personal identifying information of deceased person, as well as the fictitious names Edward Carrera and Edward Croce.

US Attorney press release

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber has sentenced Edward Morgan (49), a/k/a Edward Croce, a/k/a Edward Carrera, to six years and six months in federal prison for theft of government funds. As part of his sentence, the court also entered a money judgment of $405,935.76, the proceeds of the theft.

Morgan had pleaded guilty on September 27, 2019.

According to court documents, beginning in November 2016 and continuing through the date of his arrest in May 2019, Morgan used fictitious checks at hundreds of United States Post Office locations in Florida and other states—Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia—to purchase stamps. Morgan then converted the stamps to cash by reselling them to unsuspecting third parties, usually businesses or stamp traders. To further the scheme, Morgan often posed as a business professional during his visits to the post offices, wearing business attire and referencing his “job.” During the course of the scheme, Morgan used the personal identifying information of a real person, P.T. (now deceased), as well as the fictitious names Edward Carrera and Edward Croce. He stole more than $400,000 in stamps and other services from the United States Post Office.

This case was investigated by United States Postal Inspection Service. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Rachel K. Jones and Suzanne Nebesky.