Daniel Dixon aka Jason Lee Smallwood

June 14, 2016 DALLAS, TX — Daniel Dixon, 32, appeared this morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul D. Stickney and pleaded guilty to a three-count indictment charging felony offenses stemming from his theft of a mail truck last year, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Specifically, Dixon, also known as “Jason Lee Smallwood,” pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government money, property or records; one count of willfully injuring or committing depredation against any property of the United States; and one count of obstruction of correspondence.  Dixon, who has been in custody since his arrest shortly after the incident, faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine for both the theft count and the depredation of property count and five years and a $250,000 fine for the obstruction of correspondence count.  Sentencing is set for September 28, 2016, before U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade.

According to documents filed in the case, on December 28, 2015, as a U.S. Postal Service employee was stopped at a gas station to refill the mail truck’s gas tank, a man later identified as Dixon exited the backseat of a nearby vehicle, entered the driver’s seat of the mail truck, and drove away in the mail truck.  Dixon abandoned the mail truck on Windfall Circle in Dallas, where it was later recovered with extensive damage.

According to security camera footage, Smallwood got out of the Suburban and climbed into the postal truck while the letter carrier was paying at the pump.

As Smallwood started driving off, the letter carrier jumped into the passenger side window, a confrontation captured on security camera footage. Just as Smallwood was about to pull onto South Belt Line, the letter carrier fell from the truck into the parking lot.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Dallas Police Department investigated.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie Hoxie is in charge of the prosecution.