Avilla Man Sentenced

FORT WAYNE -Justin M. Stevens, 30 years old, of Avilla, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Chief Judge Holly A. Brady after pleading guilty to two counts of theft of mail and one count of receipt of stolen mail, announced United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.

Stevens, who had been in federal custody since November 2023, was sentenced to time served followed by 30 months of supervised release. Following his release from incarceration, Stevens is required to report to a halfway house, residential treatment facility, or transitional living facility.

According to documents in the case, between August and October 2021, the United States Postal Inspection Service received reports of residential mail thefts in the Fort Wayne and Huntertown areas. On October 16, 2021, Stevens was apprehended in the early morning hours attempting to steal mail from a mail receptacle in Huntertown, Indiana. At that time, his SUV contained approximately two hundred pieces of stolen mail. Bank records indicated a check stolen from a homeowner's mail receptacle had been deposited in an account in his name on August 9, 2021.

This case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Allen County Sheriff's Department, and the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Justin C. Sheridan.