Three defendants arrested, charged with stealing postal keys

BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today Carwin D. Lidge, 27, of Amherst, NY, Jenny B. Alemany, 40, and Richard Law, 29, both of Buffalo, NY, were arrested and charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to commit mail theft, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

According to the criminal complaint, in October 2025, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service launched multiple investigations into the robberies of nine letter carriers in Erie and Niagara Counties for their specialized postal keys, which are used to access blue mail collection boxes.

On December 5, 2025, Niagara Falls Police officers and Postal Inspectors responded to the scene of a letter carrier who was robbed of her postal key on Forest Avenue. The letter carrier was approached by an unknown black male wearing a neck warmer pulled up to mask much of his face. The man had his hands in his front hoodie pocket and pointed the pocket toward the letter carrier, causing her to believe the individual had a weapon pointed at her. The man demanded, "give me that gold key," which she understood to mean her postal key. She gave the man her key, and he then ran off. The stolen key could be used to gain access to all blue collection boxes located in the Niagara Falls area.

In the early morning hours of October 5, 2026, investigators were conducting surveillance of the La Salle Post Office in Niagara Falls, when inspectors received notification that the collection box outside the Main Street Post Office in Niagara Falls had been accessed. At approximately 2:35 a.m., law enforcement observed a silver-colored vehicle, with a burned-out driver side taillight, park near the La Salle Post Office. Two suspects exited the vehicle with a large black bag. Security surveillance video showed a third suspect seated in the front passenger seat. The first two suspects approached the collection box outside the La Salle Post Office, one suspect held back, appearing to act as a lookout, while the other suspect accessed the drive-up collection box. Security surveillance video captured the suspect as he appeared to use a key to open the lower employee access panel to the box and remove all of the mail from the white flat tub contained in the bottom of the box, loading all of the mail into a backpack. As the two suspects started heading back to their vehicle, Inspectors and Niagara Falls Police officers quickly moved in with vehicles and on foot. The two suspects briefly attempted to flee but were quickly apprehended along with the third suspect. La enforcement recovered the backpack full of mail and the postal key, which had been stolen from the postal carrier in December 2025.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Franz M. Wright. The complaint is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Acting Inspector-in-Charge Justin Page, Boston Division and the Niagara Falls Police Department, under the direction of Chief Nick Ligammari.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

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