Glendale man pleads guilty to stealing 30 USPS vehicles and mail

A Glendale man pleaded guilty to stealing 30 United States Postal Service vehicles as part of a mail and identity theft scheme.

Vegen Hartoonian, 46, faces a maximum sentence of seven years in federal prison for one count of conspiracy to commit theft of government property and one count of aggravated identity theft.

In his plea agreement, Hartoonian said he and several other people followed postal trucks in rental cars between September 2023 and November 2024. In at least one instance, the Department of Justice said the rental was paid with a stolen credit card.

Hartoonian and his accomplices stole the postal vehicle after the mail carrier left to deliver mail, then drove it to another location before stealing the mail, according to prosecutors. 

The DOJ said the 30 USPS trucks that Hartoonian and his accomplices stole were each worth $11,651, or a total of $349,530. Prosecutors added that the group stole mail for 232 people and 100 credit and debit cards.

Three of Hartoonian's accomplices also pleaded guilty to federal charges:

• Jose Arviso, 50, of San Bernardino
• Sanjay Varma, 44, of Pasadena 
• Juan Nuñez, 25, of Highland Park

A fourth man, Lincoln Heights resident Mark Anthony Quitugua, 43, pleaded not guilty and will go to trial in January 2027.