Tremont Hancock, 25, and Olden Ellerbe III, 27, of Richmond, Virginia have been sentenced for conspiracy to steal U.S. mail and commit bank fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
From May 2023 through April 2024, Hancock, Ellerbe, and others used stolen USPS arrow keys to access postal collection boxes and extract personal and financial information from the mailstream. They then used the stolen information to draft fictitious checks, make unauthorized withdrawals using stolen debit and credit cards, and apply for loans in victims' names.
On November 15, 2023, law enforcement confronted the pair following a series of five withdrawals totaling $84,000. After a brief chase, officers arrested Ellerbe and recovered $59,940 in cash, 83 stolen checks with a face value of $153,630.83, nine stolen credit or debit cards, six stolen U.S. Savings Bonds worth $5,000, and a handgun. Additional items including a stolen debit card, counterfeit driver's license, and more stolen mail were found in Ellerbe's rental car.
Ellerbe pleaded guilty on February 16, 2024 and was sentenced on August 19, 2024 to three years in prison. Hancock pleaded guilty on December 4, 2025 and was sentenced on September 16, 2026 to five years and six months in prison.
