Postal worker in NC steals more than $74,000 for hotels and flights, feds say
A postal worker in charge of finances at a distribution center in North Carolina was convicted of stealing money and using it for personal expenses, including flights and hotels, federal prosecutors said.
Robert Raquan Patterson, 29, pleaded guilty to misappropriation of postal funds and to making false entries and reports while working at a post office in Evergreen, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina said in an Aug. 4 news release.
McClatchy News reached out to Patterson’s attorney Aug. 4 but did not receive an immediate response.
Between November 2022 and July 2024, Patterson used his access to financial systems and records at the distribution center to issue 129 postal money orders that he used to fund personal expenses, prosecutors said.
Then, he made false reports about debit and credit card payments to match up to the fake money orders, according to prosecutors.
Patterson caused the United States Post Office to lose more than $74,735, prosecutors said.
He is set to be sentenced Aug. 7 and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, prosecutors said.
Evergreen is about a 120-mile drive south from Raleigh.
