Two Oklahoma men sentenced for armed robbery of USPS mail carrier
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — On Wednesday, a federal judge sentenced two men for their roles in two armed robberies—one in Edmond and another in Stillwater—involving USPS mail carriers.
News 4 first reported on the robbery in Stillwater in March 2023, when a suspect, later identified as Taryan Nabond Prince-Sadler, held up a U.S. Postal worker at gun point and demanded the mail carrier's keys.
Security camera footage from the Apex Apartments where the incident occurred showed a white Toyota Camry following the mail carrier before and after the robbery. During the investigation, authorities identified the driver as Rijae Varnell Luster.
According to court records, inspectors with the United States Postal Inspection Service tracked Prince-Sadler to an Edmond post office, where the witnessed him using an "Arrow Key" he took from a mail carrier to open mailboxes.
He then collected the stolen mail in a trash bag before attempting to escape, but was arrested by USPIS Inspectors. After the arrest, inspectors found a firearm, binoculars, stolen mail and an Arrow Key from a February 2023 robbery of an Edmond postal worker.
USPIS says they have identified at least 505 mail theft victims in the case, with over $500,000 in total losses tied to stolen mail.
Prince-Sadler, 20, was charged with eight total counts in connection to the armed robberies and mail theft, and later pleaded guilty on October 16, 2023. He was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison followed by four years of supervised release on Wednesday.
Luster, 23, also pleaded guilty in the case after being charged with aiding and abetting armed robbery of property of the United States. He was sentenced to two and a half years in federal prison followed by four years of supervised release on June 25.