The Rockton postmaster who was caught stealing money and gift cards that were sent in the mail was sentenced to serve 35 days to one year in the Clearfield County Jail by Judge Paul Cherry Tuesday.

Jody L. Cavazza, 56, of DuBois pleaded guilty to 17 counts of theft by unlawful taking. She was ordered to pay a total of $1,200 in fines and pay restitution to all the victims.

Cavazza paid the restitution in full prior to sentencing. The restitution was as follows, $40, $65, $20, $30, $21.50, $60, $40, $65, $40, $65, $108, $150, $30, $100, $20, and $100.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, on Feb. 21 one of the victims came to the DuBois station of the state police and told police that about six months ago he noticed that his son’s mail appeared to be opened. Initially he did not think much of it until Christmas when his son’s grandparents sent him gift cards. The cards arrived but the gift cards were missing and it appeared that the envelopes had been opened.

This happened again on Valentine’s Day when his son was sent $10 with a card and the card arrived without any money.
To find out what was happening, the victim said he purchased $5 and $10 gift cards at Walmart and sent them to his son through the mail. The gift cards again went missing and the victim brought the account number to police.

The state police went to Walmart Loss Prevention who provided surveillance video of the defendant using the gift cards. Cavazza used the gift cards on a $63.75 purchase and paid the rest with her Visa credit card, and Walmart provided police a copy of the transaction records and Cavazza’s signature.

On March 27, the state police along with special agents James Long and Bruce Wagonhofer of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General conducted surveillance of Cavazza at the Rockton Post Office.

At 9 a.m. the agents mailed a greeting card and $20 Walmart gift card with an orange envelope in the outgoing mail.
At 9:40 a.m. the agents determined that the envelope had been opened and the gift card removed.

The agents and the state police then confronted Cavazza about the theft. She initially denied taking the envelope but it was found on her desk underneath some papers.

She then claimed that this was only the second or third time she stole money from the mail and denied taking any gift cards, only cash.

When informed that they had evidence to the contrary, she admitted to opening more than she initially indicated.
She said she started stealing about a year prior when her hours were cut by the post office. She said she is on Social Security and has multiple sclerosis, and the cut in pay put her in a difficult financial position.

When the case was publicized in the local media, additional victims came forward.

Pennsylvania Postmaster accused of mail theft