A former U.S. mail carrier in Charlotte, North Carolina, was sentenced to prison for her role in a bank fraud conspiracy involving stolen mail. Kiara Padgett, 31, received a six-month prison sentence followed by six months of home detention. The sentencing was announced by Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
Padgett’s involvement included using her position as a mail carrier to steal checks from both businesses and individuals along her route between August 2021 and November 2022. According to court documents and statements made during the sentencing hearing, Padgett worked with her husband, Dominique Dunlap, Terrell Alexander Hager Jr., and others in executing the scheme.
Dunlap acted as an intermediary by selling the stolen checks to Hager and other individuals. The checks were deposited into accounts controlled by co-conspirators and quickly withdrawn before banks or victims could detect the fraud. The total face value of checks stolen from Padgett’s routes exceeded $8.5 million.
Dominique Dunlap was previously sentenced to 70 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $1.6 million in restitution. Terrell Alexander Hager Jr. received a three-year prison sentence related to the case.
U.S. Attorney Ferguson commented on the ongoing issue: “As I have said before, I am sick and tired of checks being stolen from the mail – which we too often see from employees of the Postal Service,” said Ferguson. “We are working tirelessly to catch these thieves and bring them to justice.”
The investigation involved multiple agencies including the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG) for the Mid-Atlantic Area Field Office (MAAFO), and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD). Ferguson commended these organizations for their work on this case.
Padgett pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud on September 15, 2023. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Frick prosecuted the case.
