DETROIT (WXYZ) — Federal officials announced Monday that two men have been sentenced to 7 years in federal prison in connection with a series of 2023 robberies of mail carriers.
ORIGINAL REPORT: 2 suspects charged in mail carrier robberies in metro Detroit
Officials say 31-year-old Michael Lamar Smith-Ellis of Detroit and 33-year-old Terrance Tucker of Phoenix, Arizona, targeted USPS mail carriers in September and October 2023, robbing them at gunpoint in Taylor and Northville and demanding their "arrow keys." Those are the master keys that can be used to access postal mailboxes to steal mail.
The Taylor robbery occurred on September 25, 2023, and the Northville robbery took place on October 24, 2023.
Tucker and Smith-Ellis were charged in October 2023 with five different crimes, including robbery of a theft of mail, money, or property of the U.S. They had been arrested minutes after the robbery of the mail carrier in Northville by Livonia police. At the time, a law enforcement search of their cars found firearms, gear, several credit cards in other people’s names, along with a USPS key ring and an “arrow key”.
At the time of their arrest, federal officials said a source told them Smith-Ellis was an Amazon Flex driver and he would rob the mailboxes in the late night or early morning while delivering for Amazon.
“We all know the commitment of postal carriers to deliver the mail no matter the conditions. And we are committed to protecting them as they do their job,” said U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon in a news release. “These violent criminals deserve a serious sentence.”
“The safety of postal employees is a top priority for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the federal law enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service,” said Sean McStravick, Acting Inspector in Charge of the Postal Inspection Service’s Detroit Division. “Let this sentence serve as a warning to those who attempt or conspire to harm postal employees for personal gain: we will find you and we will ensure you are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We would also like to thank our local law enforcement partners for their invaluable assistance in this investigation.”
