RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A Richmond man has plead guilty to a mail theft and bank fraud scheme in which he was able to steal thousands of dollars from multiple victims with the help of a co-conspirator.
On Friday, Feb. 16, 24-year-old Olden Ellerbe III pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and two counts for possession of stolen mail in Richmond’s Federal Courthouse.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Ellerbe and his accomplice conspired to obtain victims’ personal and financial information by stealing mail from U.S.P.S. mailboxes — sometimes using stolen keys designed to unlock blue U.S.P.S. collection boxes.
Ellerbe’s plea comes after an incident in Nov. 15, 2023, where Richmond Police officers were called to a Virginia Credit Union branch at 3200 West Broad Street for a 911 call for service from a bank manager.
The manager reported to officials that two people were withdrawing thousands of dollars from an exterior interactive teller machine — similar to an ATM. One of those two people was identified as Ellerbe, the other person managed to get away.
At the scene, officers searched Ellerbe’s bag and found 83 checks, nearly $60,000 in cash, nine credit and debit cards and five U.S. Savings Bonds.
Investigators traced one of the recovered checks to a victim who confirmed she had placed it in one of Richmond Main Post Office’s blue collection boxes and it never made it to its intended recipient.
Several other victims were reported to have personal and financial information stolen by Ellerbe, including one who never had a bank account with VACU, nor did they live in the state of Virginia.
Mail stolen from blue U.S. Postal Service collection boxes is one out of many ongoing mail issues that the city of Richmond has been facing for months. Since August 2023, many post offices have removed their blue collection boxes.
A postal town hall meeting will take place next week on Virginia Commonwealth University’s campus, but U.S. Postal Service representatives will not be present.
Ellerbe is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 19 and will be facing a maximum penalty of 35 years in prison.
