A New Jersey man pleaded guilty in federal court in Portland on Tuesday to his role in burglarizing several Maine post offices and robbing two U.S. Postal Service (USPS) letter carriers at knifepoint.
Winston McLeod, 31, of Orange, N.J., alongside his coconspirator, 30-year-old Lance Funderburk of Brooklyn, N.Y., were charged in March with counts of burglary, conspiracy to commit robbery and theft, for a week-long “crime spree” that spanned Paris, Monmouth and Lewiston.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine, in January 2024, the pair broke into post offices in Paris and North Monmouth and stole money order printers, mail, P.O. box keys, and other items.
McLeod and Funderburk were further accused of robbing two Lewiston USPS letter carriers in quick succession on Jan. 20, 2024, allegedly “threatening to stab each of them with a knife unless they turned over their postal keys,” federal prosecutors said.
The two men were taken into custody by law enforcement after a traffic stop, as their vehicle, a white Jeep, matched a vehicle seen in videos from each crime scene.
During a search of McLeod and Funderburk, as well as the vehicle, law enforcement discovered a black butterfly knife, a black ski mask, large sums of cash, and several checks that were determined to have been stolen from the Paris post office.
Law enforcement recovered additional stolen items at and near the address where the McLeod and Funderburk had been staying.
“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is committed to keeping the U.S. Mail, its employees, and customers safe. Today’s plea is the culmination of exceptional teamwork between our local and federal law enforcement partners,” said Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Boston Division.
“The swift response by responding officers and their ongoing support were instrumental in making this a successful investigation” Larco-Ward said. “Ensuring the safety of our employees is a top priority, Postal Inspectors will continue to thoroughly investigate any robberies of our employees and burglaries of our facilities.”
After pleading guilty, McLeod now faces up to five years imprisonment and a maximum fine of $250,000 on one count of conspiracy to rob postal carriers and burgle a U.S. Post Office, and two counts of burglary of a post office.
For each of the two counts of robbery of a postal carrier, McLeod faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="29564 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=29564">4 Comments
No pics of the criminals here, but Orange, NJ gives a strong hint. Another Maine paper gave a pic of one and a description of the other, indicating that both are black. Maine”s reputation as the Country’s whitest state is becoming questionable.
Are they in old Govnor’s scrap book?
They don’t catch the smart ones.
That statement’s a joke – here in holden and eddington postal vehicles transport the bulk fentanyl and oxys, guess they don’t cam the offices huh