Buffalo woman pleads guilty to her role in conspiracy to steal mail

BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Alexandria Duncan, 23, of Buffalo, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah J. McCarthy to conspiracy to commit mail theft, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Franz M. Wright, who is handling the case, stated that between October 9 and October 14, 2024, Duncan conspired with co-defendant Timothee S. Tidwell to steal mail from receptacles in Hamburg, NY, and take articles from inside the letters and envelopes that were stolen. For instance, in the early morning hours of October 14, 2024, Duncan drove a vehicle to Camp Road with Tidwell, who exited the vehicle and approached a row of mailboxes outside the post office on Camp Road with a postal arrow key he was not legally entitled to possess. After Tidwell exited the vehicle, Duncan drove the vehicle across the street to a gas station where she was approached by a Village of Hamburg Police officer. While the police officer interacted with Duncan, Tidwell fled the scene.

Duncan and Tidwell used a postal arrow key to open various mailboxes in the Hamburg area to steal multiple mail items. On October 14, 2024, law enforcement recovered opened and unopened mail addressed to other people from Duncan's vehicle. The opened mail included checks from various individuals and businesses and totaled approximately $369,104.92.

The plea is the result of an investigation by the Village of Hamburg Police, under the direction of Chief Richard Schara, and the United States Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Acting Inspector-in-Charge Nicholas J. Bucciarelli, Boston Division.

Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date.

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