BANGOR, Maine — A Winter Harbor woman was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court to three years probation for stealing more than $1,600 from money order payments while working as a relief postmaster in Sullivan, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Woman gets probation for theft from Sullivan post office

According to court records, from about May 19 to September 12, 2014, while serving as a Postmaster Relief at the Sullivan, Maine Post Office, Melnick issued a series of money orders without reporting the sale or tendering the money to the Postal Service.  Many of these money orders were cashed by recipients before the defendant reported them as sold.  When Postal Service investigators audited Melnick’s accounts, there were still three previously-cashed money orders outstanding.

Other Maine Postmaster Reliefs Caught Stealing:

In 2014, A former Postmaster Relief  (PMR) at the post office in East Vassalboro, Maine pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to stealing over $20,000 worth of mail and money orders. Jason Stockmar, 28, was sentenced in 2015 to three months in federal prison for stealing mail and embezzling postal money orders.

In 2014, the Postmaster Relief in Greenbush, Maine confessed that she took $3,437.42 in Postal Service funds because of ongoing tax problems. Nicole Dumond added that money from stamp and money order sales were used to pay her personal bills and taxes.