Postal worker stole veterans’ meds from the mail, will head to prison for theft

A former postal worker stole meds in the mail that were headed to U.S. military veterans and she will now spend two years behind bars for her crimes.

Court documents show between September 2019 and July 2020, United States Postal Service officials received more than 40 reports from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salem, Virginia, stating medication parcels mailed to veterans at addresses around the area were never delivered.

USPS and Office of the Inspector agents reviewed video footage that showed Ammie Hale, 46, “on two different occasions, while working at the Tazwell Post Office, removing parcels from the sorting area, and taking them to an area of the Post Office where employees keep personal belongings and hiding the parcels in her purse,” prosecutors said.

On Aug. 5, 2020, the agents “conducted on-site surveillance and caught Hale stealing pills from a package addressed from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center,” prosecutors said.

When federal investigators interviewed Hale, she falsely claimed she had never stolen mail prior to that day.

In March 2021, Hale pleaded guilty toone count of making false statements and three counts of theft by mail by an employee of the postal service in connection to stealing mail on Feb. 26, July 1, and Aug. 5, 2020.

Hale could have faced up to 20 years in prison for the crimes, Bristol’s WCYB-TV reported.