A former Duluth postal carrier with a fondness for Menards pleaded guilty on Wednesday to stealing from the mail he delivered.
In a plea agreement, Giang Nguyen, 48, of Superior pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis to one count of theft of mail by a postal employee, a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Minnesota said. He stole more than $1,400 intended for residents on his route.
Nguyen admitted that from March 2010 to Jan. 7, 2011, he removed applications for Menards rebate checks, the actual rebate checks and Menards Big Game Money Cards from mail he was supposed to deliver, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. He used the rebate checks and Big Game Money Cards that he stole to make purchases at Menards. He also altered the stolen rebate check applications so that he would receive the checks from Menards rather than the rightful participants.
In all, Nguyen stole at least 77 pieces of mail intended for at least 45 residents, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Nguyen, who entered his plea before U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim, faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Sentencing will come at a later date.
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The case was the result of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Service-Office of the Inspector General and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John E. Kokkinen.
