TAMPA, Fla. — According to a news release issued by the Department of Justice, two males from Tampa were sentenced to a minimum of eight years in federal prison for the armed robbery of a postal mail carrier and the theft of postal keys. Both of these crimes occurred in Florida.
In January of 2023, Omar Miller, age 23, and Christopher “Chico” Diaz, age 27, entered guilty pleas to the charges against them. According to the investigators, the two individuals planned the heist through a series of phone calls and text messages with a getaway car driver named Edwin Betancourt Vega.
According to the press release, evidence that was presented during the trial demonstrated that Miller held a postal carrier at gunpoint and stole mail from her as she was delivering mail to an apartment complex.
According to the reports, he approached the mail carrier from behind, brandished a weapon at her, threatened to shoot her, and demanded the postal keys.
“After Miller stole the postal keys, he pushed the mail carrier to the ground and ran to a waiting getaway car,” the Department of Justice (DOJ) claimed.
According to the authorities, the three criminals conspired to commit the crime and then sold the postal keys in return for money.
In addition to the money made from the transaction, law enforcement was successful in retrieving the postal keys that had been stolen. Officials say that they also found Miller’s DNA on the weapon that had been used in the robbery, which they recovered.
The Department of Justice stated that Betancourt Vega pled guilty to the armed robbery of a postal mail carrier and the theft of postal keys on February 3, 2023.
The charges against him stemmed from his involvement in the heist as the getaway driver. He will serve his time in federal prison for a total of four years and three months.
Miller received a federal prison term that amounted to nine years and two months of time served. In addition to that, he was charged with displaying a pistol throughout the course of the heist. Diaz was given a sentence that will put him behind bars for eight years.
According to a statement released by Juan Vargas, the Inspector in Charge of the Miami Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service, “Employee safety is a top priority for the agency.”
