The District Attorney of Queens, Melinda Katz, announced on August 31 that a USPS employee is accused of using her position to privately open and steal money orders from mail at the Whitestone post office, allegedly embezzling over $21,000 within about 15 months and then forging signatures to cash the money orders. The defendant, Jere Campbell, faces 89 charges including forgery, identity theft, and grand larceny; if convicted, she could face a maximum sentence of 5 to 15 years in prison.
Campbell, 44, resides in the Bronx. According to prosecutors, while working as a counter clerk at the Whitestone post office, she accessed the mail sorting area, opened incoming letters, searched for and removed money orders, and then discarded the envelopes; some empty envelopes were resealed and sent back to the recipients.
Prosecutors allege that Campbell later returned to her postal counter, forged the necessary signatures on the money orders, and cashed them. Between February 24, 2025, and May 12, 2026, she is accused of stealing and cashing money orders totaling $21,400 from mail belonging to 10 victims.
Some of the stolen funds were originally intended for rent payments. Prosecutors detailed that one victim purchased three $1,000 money orders at a Bronx post office, sent them to a landlord’s postal box in Whitestone, all of which were cashed but never received by the landlord.
Another victim sent money orders totaling $3,000 to Florida for homeowners’ association fees. Although the letters were delivered, the money orders inside vanished, allegedly cashed by Campbell later on.
A man purchased several money orders totaling $4,000 over the course of months, sent to a landlord with a postal box in Whitestone. In March 2026, he bought $2,000 money orders at a Fresh Meadows post office and sent them from the counter where Campbell worked at the Whitestone post office. Prosecutors stated that the landlord did not receive these money orders, and they were all allegedly cashed by Campbell.
Katz mentioned that one victim bought money orders to pay a deposit for a parent’s grave marker, while others used money orders to cover rent. She expressed that postal employees should protect customers’ mail, but the defendant allegedly misused her position to steal over $20,000.
In December 2024, the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and the USPS Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG) began investigating after receiving complaints of missing money orders. The Queens District Attorney’s Office joined the investigation the following month.
Campbell recently appeared in the state Supreme Court in Queens for the first time, with Judge Leigh Cheng scheduling her next court date for September 30. The aforementioned charges are currently allegations by the prosecution, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
Katz’s office urged anyone who suspects their mail was stolen at the Whitestone post office to call the Queens District Attorney’s Office at 718-286-6673 to provide information.