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06-28-2016, 04:18 PM
Judge sentences former U.S. postal worker Venecia McLaren for stealing sports cards, including a $25,000 LeBron James card | masslive.com (http://www.masslive.com/news/boston/index.ssf/2016/06/judge_sentences_former_us_post.html)
BOSTON – A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced former postal worker Venecia McLaren, who stole and attempted to sell 23 sports trading cards through the Internet, including a LeBron James card valued at $25,000, to three years of probation.
"It's probably worth more now," Judge Mark Wolf said about the James card, an apparent reference to the Cleveland Cavaliers' championship win.
The card was a LeBron James Upper Deck Exquisite 3 Color Rookie Patch, according to prosecutors. Seventeen of the 23 cards were recovered.
Earlier this year, McLaren pleaded guilty to stealing the cards -- which carried a total value of over $68,000 -- while she was a clerk at the U.S. Post Office in Jamaica Plain during the harsh winter weather in 2015. Joined in the scheme by her siblings, she sold most of them for a maximum of $200 each, and one card was offered for sale at $300.
Wolf ordered McLaren, 30, to pay a total of $10,964 in restitution as well as a $3,000 fine.
Wolf, who called the sentence "sufficient" for a "serious offense," also ordered her to serve the first four months confined to her home, and the first two months with an electronic monitoring bracelet.
"You had a position of trust at the post office and you abused it," Wolf said.
While working at the Jamaica Plain post office, she was tasked with sorting mail and P.O. box deliveries. She helped deliver mail when the office was short on staff or backed up on mail during the heavy snowfall of 2015.
On Jan. 21, 2015, she was asked to drive to the Roxbury post office. She drove in her own car to the office and with another employee loaded packages into her trunk and brought them back to Jamaica Plain, according to a court filing by her defense attorney.
Two packages ended up getting left in the trunk.
Wolf told McLaren he accepted that the two packages were left accidentally in the trunk, but added that the obvious thing for her to do was give them back to the Post Office.
"I don't find your conduct as innocent as has been presented by your ardent attorney," Wolf said. "You had those for months. You had many opportunities to return them."
Instead, she devised a scheme, and involved her sister and brother, which "turned them into criminals, too," Wolf said.
"Your mother's not happy with you, I don't blame you," Wolf continued. "Now she's got three criminals as children when, by your report, she taught each of you to be hardworking and law-abiding."
But because McLaren has no previous criminal history, Wolf said he believed she had learned her lesson.
The $3,000 fine that she has to pay the government is meant to be punitive, he said, adding that he realizes she doesn't have much money now.
"The desire for money motivated the crime so a monetary penalty is appropriate," he said.
According to McLaren's attorney, at the time of the crime, McLaren was struggling to pay her rent, student loans and bills that were past due.
When it was time for her to speak in court, McLaren rose and spoke softly and quickly. "Your Honor, I am really, really sorry about this," she said.
"Every day I get up and go [to work], I know I messed up my life," McLaren said.
McLaren declined to comment to a reporter on her way out of the courtroom.
Her siblings have already been given a probation sentence of one year.
The prosecutor in the case, William Bloomer, argued for incarcerating McLaren as well as ordering 160 hours of community service, saying the victim spent "countless hours" dealing with the Boston Police Department in an effort to recover the 23 trading cards. The victim declined to offer a statement to the court.
"She exploited a position of trust for her own benefit," Bloomer said, adding that incarceration would deter others from engaging in "government thievery." He acknowledged she "cooperated immediately" with police and wasn't aware of the true value of the cards.
But McLaren's public defense attorney, Cara McNamara, said McLaren feels remorse, and she currently has a job and a stable relationship.
She now lives in New York, working as a clerk in a warehouse, packaging parts for shipment, and earning $10 an hour.
Locking her up for months when she's employed and can start on paying the restitution "doesn't make sense," McNamara told the judge, pressing for the three years of probation McLaren ended up receiving.
"At a young age she made an enormous mistake, one that she fully recognizes has serious consequences," McNamara wrote in a court filing. "She will likely face serious difficulties finding solid employment in the future. She understands that this felony conviction will stay with her forever."
BOSTON – A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced former postal worker Venecia McLaren, who stole and attempted to sell 23 sports trading cards through the Internet, including a LeBron James card valued at $25,000, to three years of probation.
"It's probably worth more now," Judge Mark Wolf said about the James card, an apparent reference to the Cleveland Cavaliers' championship win.
The card was a LeBron James Upper Deck Exquisite 3 Color Rookie Patch, according to prosecutors. Seventeen of the 23 cards were recovered.
Earlier this year, McLaren pleaded guilty to stealing the cards -- which carried a total value of over $68,000 -- while she was a clerk at the U.S. Post Office in Jamaica Plain during the harsh winter weather in 2015. Joined in the scheme by her siblings, she sold most of them for a maximum of $200 each, and one card was offered for sale at $300.
Wolf ordered McLaren, 30, to pay a total of $10,964 in restitution as well as a $3,000 fine.
Wolf, who called the sentence "sufficient" for a "serious offense," also ordered her to serve the first four months confined to her home, and the first two months with an electronic monitoring bracelet.
"You had a position of trust at the post office and you abused it," Wolf said.
While working at the Jamaica Plain post office, she was tasked with sorting mail and P.O. box deliveries. She helped deliver mail when the office was short on staff or backed up on mail during the heavy snowfall of 2015.
On Jan. 21, 2015, she was asked to drive to the Roxbury post office. She drove in her own car to the office and with another employee loaded packages into her trunk and brought them back to Jamaica Plain, according to a court filing by her defense attorney.
Two packages ended up getting left in the trunk.
Wolf told McLaren he accepted that the two packages were left accidentally in the trunk, but added that the obvious thing for her to do was give them back to the Post Office.
"I don't find your conduct as innocent as has been presented by your ardent attorney," Wolf said. "You had those for months. You had many opportunities to return them."
Instead, she devised a scheme, and involved her sister and brother, which "turned them into criminals, too," Wolf said.
"Your mother's not happy with you, I don't blame you," Wolf continued. "Now she's got three criminals as children when, by your report, she taught each of you to be hardworking and law-abiding."
But because McLaren has no previous criminal history, Wolf said he believed she had learned her lesson.
The $3,000 fine that she has to pay the government is meant to be punitive, he said, adding that he realizes she doesn't have much money now.
"The desire for money motivated the crime so a monetary penalty is appropriate," he said.
According to McLaren's attorney, at the time of the crime, McLaren was struggling to pay her rent, student loans and bills that were past due.
When it was time for her to speak in court, McLaren rose and spoke softly and quickly. "Your Honor, I am really, really sorry about this," she said.
"Every day I get up and go [to work], I know I messed up my life," McLaren said.
McLaren declined to comment to a reporter on her way out of the courtroom.
Her siblings have already been given a probation sentence of one year.
The prosecutor in the case, William Bloomer, argued for incarcerating McLaren as well as ordering 160 hours of community service, saying the victim spent "countless hours" dealing with the Boston Police Department in an effort to recover the 23 trading cards. The victim declined to offer a statement to the court.
"She exploited a position of trust for her own benefit," Bloomer said, adding that incarceration would deter others from engaging in "government thievery." He acknowledged she "cooperated immediately" with police and wasn't aware of the true value of the cards.
But McLaren's public defense attorney, Cara McNamara, said McLaren feels remorse, and she currently has a job and a stable relationship.
She now lives in New York, working as a clerk in a warehouse, packaging parts for shipment, and earning $10 an hour.
Locking her up for months when she's employed and can start on paying the restitution "doesn't make sense," McNamara told the judge, pressing for the three years of probation McLaren ended up receiving.
"At a young age she made an enormous mistake, one that she fully recognizes has serious consequences," McNamara wrote in a court filing. "She will likely face serious difficulties finding solid employment in the future. She understands that this felony conviction will stay with her forever."