A former U.S. Postal Service mail carrier who operated a route in Smyrna was sentenced to federal prison Tuesday for stealing checks and gift cards worth more than $1 million along her route, federal prosecutors say.
Melissa McAfee from Jonesboro, 44, was sentenced to two years in prison and two years of supervised release after she pleaded guilty to possessing stolen mail in May.
“Mail carriers are entrusted with the responsibility of handling citizens’ valuable and personal communications, but McAfee abused that trust by stealing more than 200 checks and gift cards,” U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said in an Aug. 25 statement. “My office works closely with our federal partners to aggressively prosecute any federal employee who misuses public office for private gain.”
According to federal prosecutors, McAfee was working in the Smyrna, Georgia region, just outside Atlanta, from 2022 to 2024. During that time, the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Postal Service received complaints that mail had been stolen along the route.
During the investigation, surveillance footage showed McAfee taking mail from her route.
Millions of packages stolen every year
In 2025, the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General estimated that as many as 58 million packages were stolen in 2024 alone, accounting for losses between $5.2 and $16 billion.
USPS delivers mail six days a week to nearly 167 million addresses, the agency says. During an audit of internal theft in 2024, the agency found that theft by employees occurred when personal items were allowed on the workroom floor, when there were vacancies in supervisor and manager roles and when there was no regular training on mail theft.Millions of packages stolen every year
In 2025, the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General estimated that as many as 58 million packages were stolen in 2024 alone, accounting for losses between $5.2 and $16 billion.
USPS delivers mail six days a week to nearly 167 million addresses, the agency says. During an audit of internal theft in 2024, the agency found that theft by employees occurred when personal items were allowed on the workroom floor, when there were vacancies in supervisor and manager roles and when there was no regular training on mail theft.
Additionally, processing facilities nationwide are outfitted with cameras to monitor workroom floors, but some cameras were not operational due to failures with switches, servers, or cables. The Postal Inspection Service does not have a documented plan or guidance to monitor the operational status of the cameras,” the agency said in the 2024 report.
Changes have been made internally since, including developing more training programs, stopping employees from bringing personal items onto the mail floor like bags and working to increase camera surveillance of facilities and restore cameras that had become non-operational.