ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis man was sentenced Wednesday to more than 20 years in federal prison after he admitted to robbing three postal workers in 2022.
According to a press release from U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming of the Eastern District of Missouri, 20-year-old Xavier Sean Boyd was sentenced to 21 years and three months in prison for his involvement in a conspiracy to steal arrow keys and use them to steal checks from mailboxes around the area.
Arrow keys are used to open certain USPS collection boxes.
According to the press release, Boyd robbed a postal carrier at gunpoint on June 1, 2022, then used the key four days later to steal from collection boxes in Berkeley, West Florissant, Normandy, Overland, and Ferguson. He and one of his co-conspirators, Roy Lee Jones, deposited nearly $20,000 of stolen checks into Jones's credit union account and withdrew $8,500 a day later.
Jones robbed a second postal carrier on June 9. Less than 20 minutes later and about a half-mile away, Boyd robbed a different carrier of his arrow key.
Police said the third carrier noted the license plate number of the Volkswagen Tiguan Boyd used to flee the scene and reported it to police. St. Louis County police said they spotted the suspects in the car and tried to pull them over. Boyd and Jones sped away but crashed after a short chase.
Police said Jones and Boyd tried to run away, but police caught them and found guns and arrow keys inside the car.
Boyd in September pleaded guilty to three counts of robbery and two counts of possession and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a robbery. He was sentenced in federal court on Wednesday.
Jones pleaded guilty in August to one count of robbery, one count of theft of a mail key, and one count of possession and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a robbery. He was sentenced last month to 84 months in prison.
