Freeport post office worker went on shopping spree with credit cards stolen from mail, DA says

An employee at the Freeport post office paid for fast food, liquor store items and gas with seven credit cards she intercepted in mail that was being processed, the Nassau district attorney's office said Monday.

Yvonne Jamison, 38, of Brooklyn, was arrested and arraigned Monday on seven counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, seven counts of fourth-degree grand larceny and two counts of second-degree identity theft, prosecutors said.

She was released under certain conditions and faces 21/3 to 7 years in prison if convicted of the top charge. Jamison was represented by the Legal Aid Society of Nassau County, which does not comment on cases.

Jamison began working as a city carrier assistant for the U.S. Postal Service in June 2013, prosecutors said, and it was in September that the first of 83 fraudulent charges were made.

The seven cards, which were mailed to six individuals, were used to buy $4,638.74 in items and services between Sept. 1, 2013, and Nov. 19, 2013, prosecutors said. Authorities said 49 purchases, or a total of $1,779, were made in Nassau convenience stores, pharmacies and elsewhere. Investigators were still trying to confirm whether Jamison is responsible for all the alleged purchases made outside Nassau.

"As a postal employee, this defendant should have known better than to use people's personal and confidential financial information in order to conduct fraudulent transactions," District Attorney Kathleen Rice said in a news release. "Especially during the holiday season, both senders and recipients should be able to count on their mail reaching its intended destination without being subject to the selfish actions of others."

The case was referred to her office in December of last year by the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Postal Service.