Two Men Sentenced to Federal Prison for Using U.S. Postal Service Arrow Keys To Steal Mail in Chicago

CHICAGO - Two men have been sentenced to federal prison terms for using U.S. Postal Service arrow keys to steal parcels from the mail in Chicago.

JOSEPH T. SOLOMON and THADDEUS J. HARPER were convicted as part of "Operation Broken Arrow," a federal investigation into the thefts of mail using stolen arrow keys, which unlock doors and entry systems to nearly every apartment and office building in Chicago and several suburbs.

Solomon used an authentic arrow key in 2022 to open a panel of mailboxes in an apartment building in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. Solomon stuffed pieces of mail into a trash bag and fled the area. He was later arrested in Indiana while driving a stolen U-Haul truck and leading police on a high-speed chase. Solomon crashed into several vehicles in Hammond, Ind., before being apprehended.

Harper used a reproduced arrow key to enter multiple residences in Chicago in 2021 and steal mail and parcels from at least ten victims. In one of his thefts, Harper used the key to gain entrance to an apartment building in Chicago's River West neighborhood, where he took a piece of mail containing two checks totaling $2,500. Harper also took other packages addressed to the same victim that were valued at more than $6,600.

Harper, 44, of Country Club Hills, Ill., and Solomon, 39, of Norridge, Ill., pleaded guilty earlier this year to federal charges of unlawful possession of a U.S. Postal Service key. U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Kendall on Wednesday sentenced Solomon to two years in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman on Tuesday sentenced Harper to 20 months in federal prison.

The sentences were announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Ruth Mendonça, Inspector-in-Charge of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Substantial assistance was provided the Chicago Police Department and the Cook County Sheriff's Office. The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Minje Shin, Michael Maione, and Adam L. Rosenbloom.

"It is illegal under federal law to possess a stolen or reproduced key suited to a U.S. Postal Service lock," said Acting U.S. Attorney Pasqual. "We will continue to work with our federal and local law enforcement partners to hold accountable anyone who unlawfully possesses such a key or steals from the mail."

"The safety and security of the U.S. mail and its customers are core to the mission of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service," said Inspector-in-Charge Mendonça. "This case is a tremendous example of how postal inspectors protect the integrity of the U.S. mail and aggressively investigate those individuals who steal or defraud individuals or businesses of money and property."