DA: 3 postal workers stole from post offices

Three U.S. Postal Service employees face criminal charges after stealing more than $4,000 from post offices in Massapequa Park, Hicksville and Uniondale, prosecutors said Thursday.

Investigators from the Nassau County district attorney's office arrested the three, a man and two women, Thursday and said the cash was taken in separate incidents.

Arrested and charged with fourth-degree grand larceny and first-degree falsifying business records were Harold Gutierrez, 49, of Uniondale; Rita Haynes, 56, of Roosevelt; and Lisa Jimenez, 45, of the Bronx.

Gutierrez also is charged with misdemeanor criminal possession of stolen property in the fifth degree.

The defendants, who are scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in First District Court in Hempstead, each face up to 4 years in prison if convicted.

The three stole at the post offices where they worked, prosecutors said in a news release.

The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General completed the investigation and referred the case to the Nassau County district attorney for prosecution.

According to the release, between July 2010 and September 2011, Gutierrez stole $1,471 from the Massapequa Park post office by improperly ringing up customers. Gutierrez would falsely enter customer transactions or omit retail customer transactions entirely, keeping the cash for himself, prosecutors said.

Gutierrez used the money for personal living expenses, and he said he stole DVDs from Netflix and Blockbuster mailings, investigators said.

Gutierrez's attorney, Daniel Russo of Mineola, said his client has been cooperative throughout the investigation and surrendered to authorities Thursday morning. "We are going to look at the evidence and hopefully resolve the matter amicably," Russo said.

Between November 2009 and February 2011, Haynes stole $1,542 from the Hicksville post office by failing to scan or enter retail customer transactions and "short-ringing" customers' stamp purchases, prosecutors said. The release said "short-ringing" is a procedure that allowed Haynes to charge a customer less than the actual purchase was worth and keep the difference.

Prosecutors said attorney information for Haynes was not available.

Also, in November 2009, Jimenez, working at the Uniondale post office, sold money orders for $500 and $1,000 to two different customers, prosecutors said. She then voided the money orders, without the knowledge of the customers, and fraudulently made money orders in the same amounts payable to two of her family members, prosecutors said.

Eric Sachs, the Bellmore-based attorney representing Jimenez, said his client "vehemently denies" the charges.

Sachs said that circumstances will show his client was a victim and that someone else committed the thefts and used her name in a "cover up."

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said in a statement the three "violated the trust placed in them by their employers and the innocent customers they were hired to serve."