BOSTON – A Springfield man was sentenced on Friday, Oct. 23, 2020 in federal court in Springfield for breaking into a postal vehicle and stealing the mail inside.

Jose Luis Sanchez, 45, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to 267 days in prison and three years of supervised release. In March 2020, Sanchez pleaded guilty to theft of United States mail and destruction of government property.

On Aug. 16, 2017, Luis Sanchez broke into a postal vehicle by breaking a window and then stole mail that was inside. Investigators identified Sanchez using DNA and fingerprints that were left behind on the vehicle by Sanchez when he broke the window.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph W. Cronin, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and Springfield Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood made the announcement.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil L. Desroches of Lelling’s Springfield Branch Office prosecuted the case.