Massachusetts Man Pleads Guilty to Stealing Over $30,000 in Postage Stamps Using Fraudulent Checks

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - William Soto, age 32, of Springfield, Massachusetts, pled guilty today to a federal indictment charging him with twelve counts of theft of government property, United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the Boston Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) announced.

During the plea, Soto admitted that, on twelve separate occasions, he used fraudulent checks to purchase more than $30,000 worth of United States Postal Service postage stamps over the course of two days in Oneida County, Oswego County, and Onondaga County in August 2023. In one instance, he bought $9,438.00 in stamps from a post office in Oswego County using a fake check.

Sentencing is scheduled for October 29, 2024. Soto faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of up to three years. A defendant's sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors.

The USPIS is investigating the case with the help of the City of Fulton Police Department and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Tuck is prosecuting the case.