An ex-Postal Service employee in Ft Payne has pleaded guilty to stealing mail.

32 year old Dutton resident April Long pled guilty to charges of Federal Mail Theft by a U.S. Postal Employee and was sentenced to five years probation – she was also ordered to pay a fine of $100 – and a total of $4,842 in restitution.

According to court records, restitution payments made by Long will be transferred to an unspecified number of victims.

Long had stolen an unspecified amount of mail between September 1st and October 19th of 2009 – in November of that year, Ft Payne Postmaster Mary Jo Crabtree, said that a former postal worker was being investigated on suspicion of taking mail, but would not release the name of the worker.

Crabtree stated they had quite a number of customers calling to report missing mail in the area, with the targets appearing to be birthday, get-well and anniversary cards – items which often contain cash or checks as a gift.

Postal Service Investigators, subsequently recovered about 2,500 pieces of missing mail, apparently taken by Long – and sent them out.