Fanice Reed Sentenced To Prison For Stealing More Than A Quarter Of A Million Dollars In Postage Stamps

DENVER (CBS4) -- A 45-year-old Texas woman was sentenced Tuesday to 27 months in federal prison for writing counterfeit checks to purchase postage stamps at Colorado and Texas post offices for more than a year.

Fanice Reed was also ordered by a U.S. District Court judge to pay $72,727.99 in restitution and undergo three years of supervision after her release.

Reed provided false identification and wrote fake checks to be drawn on bank accounts belonging law firms, non-profit groups, or other business entities, all of which did not exist.

According to the plea agreement in the case, Reed sometimes told postal employees that her law firm needed the postage for a big mailing. Other times, she claimed to be buying the postage on behalf of a non-profit organization so that care packages could be sent to U.S. military troops.

Through this scheme, Reed stole $258,452.64 from the United States Postal Service, prosecutors stated in a press release.

Reed's largest purchase occurred July 31, 2019, at the United States Postal Service facility in Denver known as the Denver Finance Station, according to the plea agreement. There, Reed spoke to a supervisor about her alleged non-profit's plan to place a coil of stamps inside every care package sent to U.S. troops. The supervisor compiled a special order which Reed returned that evening to pick up. She wrote six fraudulent checks totally more than $30,000.

Reed conducted such operations from February 2019 to March 2020, prosecutors alleged. She faced 14 counts of theft from the government following her indictment. She pleaded guilty to a single count in September.

Reed also went by the name Fanice Jones. She is formerly of Humble, Texas, and, according to online public records, previously resided in Colorado Springs.