Worley Woman Pleads Guilty to Mail Theft

COEUR D’ALENE –  Twilla Marie St. Pierre, 39, of Worley, Idaho, pleaded guilty yesterday to theft or receipt of stolen mail matter, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced.  St. Pierre was indicted by a federal grand jury in Coeur d'Alene on April 19, 2016.

According to the plea agreement, St. Pierre admitted that on or about May 28, 2015, she and co-defendant Delbert Lee stole mail belonging to another from a post office box at the U.S. Post Office in Worley, Idaho.  The stolen mail consisted of checks payable to the victim.  St. Pierre knew the mail was stolen because either she and or her co-defendant Lee stole the mail directly from the victim’s post office box.

The charge of theft or receipt of mail matter is punishable by up to five years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release.

Sentencing is set for January 18, 2017, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the federal courthouse in Coeur d'Alene.

The case was investigated by the Coeur d’Alene Tribal Police and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Today's announcement is part of efforts underway by President Obama's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF), which was created in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes.  With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud.  Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations.  Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed more than 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,700 mortgage fraud defendants.  For more information on the task force, visit www.stopfraud.gov.