Brenda Janak, 50, of North Pole, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree felony theft as part of a plea agreement.
In exchange for the plea, prosecutors dropped four additional theft charges and a charge of fraudulently using an access device. She will be on probation for one year, during which she must complete 50 hours of community service and pay restitution to the victim.
“On the one hand the defendant is a 50-year-old woman with no prior criminal history,” prosecutor Andrew Baldock said. “On the other, she abused the public trust by stealing mail while working in her capacity as a mail carrier and that is unforgivable. Because of this she now sits as a convicted felon, she has lost her job and she may lose all of her federal retirement.”
The victim approves of the plea agreement, Baldock said.
Authorities say Janak took the gift cards, all of which were in one envelope, about a week before Christmas.
A woman in Washington state was sending the cards to her great-grandchildren in Fairbanks as a present.
The case was investigated by the Anchorage-based Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Postal Service before a grand jury brought the indictment against Janak.
I tend to think that she has probably been doing this for years and just happened to finally get caught. The only reason she got caught was because she was wearing her post office uniform and they caught her on camera at Walmart. Walmart was actually able to go back to the date the gift cards were cashed and look in the video records!
I hate to think how often she really did this. With that in mind, I think her sentence should have been greater.
Thank you, Walmart, for the time spent in catching this criminal.
She knew stealing US Mail knowing as a USPS employee was a federal felony. It was wrong and further erodes the trust in the postal service.
That said, I understand the plea agreement and her receiving probation. What sane adult would risk losing her job, her benefits, and possibly her retirement.. Something must have happened to her at the age of 50 with no record to steal some low value gift cards.
Everyone makes mistakes and errors in judgment. Thank God we live in America where our justice system has compassion for a non-violent first time offender in a situation that would have been petty larceny had it not been USPS that made it a federal felony.
So I say to those who have posted here about this article who want to have their issues "heard" with the mail issues in the borough escalate the venue to the postmaster general. There are many dedicated and honest people responsible for our mail and the delivery of it. We need to support them and not generalize issues. They are dealing with the pressures of being a federal employee with the USPS at a very trying time for most everyone that struggles with the nation's poor economic situation.
The crime seems much worse to me that it was performed by a mail carrier, who is supposed to be protecting our mail- I guess maybe the shame will be punishment enough.
I know everyone makes mistakes, and many give in to temptation at least once in their life, but this isn't a teenager we're talking about here- what happened to pride in your work?
As a co-worker of Brenda's, and as a long time letter carrier in Fairbanks, let me express how disgusted I am by her crime. Her dishonesty and stupidity are inexcusable.
The damage that Brenda did to the public trust can't be calculated.
Besides, she gave up a good gig for peanuts. What an idiot!!! Good luck on welfare, Brenda.
What do you get for armed robbery, 100 days of community service and an apology from the Borough for the inconvenience of the trial?
This lowlife stole Christmas from children and betrayed the public trust. I hope she loses everything (house, car, retirement...everything) because of her selfishness.
I hope others will take heed and think twice before committing a crime. You know who you are and I know you read the online News-Miner.
Your going to get caught and even you said:
"It's just a matter of time"
Please stop before you devastate your family.