TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - Tallahassee bankers like Allen Burkes are sending a message.

Mail theft cases are on the rise across the nation, with some experts calling Florida a hot spot for mail crimes. And it’s an issue many Big Bend residents are all too familiar with.

For several months, WCTV Investigates has been shining a light through its “Washed Away” series on how criminals are washing away thousands of Leon County residents’ hard-earned dollars.

Now, the series is tracking a mail fraud case just days away from a possible conclusion. Authorities tell WCTV Investigates that next week a man will be sentenced after pleading guilty to check washing in the Big Bend.

Local and federal authorities are hoping to bring more mail crime cases to court. But it’s easier said than done, and experts say that prevention is also key.

Prosecutors track down a purported check washer

Romeo Wilson will be sentenced on March 21 in a Tallahassee federal courtroom.

In August 2024, Wilson pleaded guilty to more than 20 federal charges, including bank fraud, mail theft and possessing a U.S. Postal Service (USPS) arrow key, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

One financial institution named in Wilson’s indictment is Burkes’ First Commerce Credit Union, where prosecutors said he withdrew $5,000 from five accounts in just one day in February 2024.

“From what I understand, there was a lot of financial institutions involved,” Burkes said. “This guy was spreading the wealth, so to speak.”

As the Senior Director of Risk Management for First Commerce Credit Union, Burkes helps battle fraud. It’s a problem he knows intimately from his work as chair of the Big Bend Fraud and Forgery Task Force.

“Check fraud in general, and this tells you how rampant it is, is a running agenda item on our meetings,” he said.

The task force has grown to include financial institutions from as far as Macon, Georgia and Central Florida, working to bridge gaps in communication between banks and law enforcement, according to Burkes.

“Say, if you have a traveling group that’s stolen a bunch of checks and have altered those checks or washed or created fake checks, we can get ahead of them,” he said.

That collaboration is crucial for people like U.S. Postal Inspector Fred Fernandes. He said that Wilson’s case is an example of how local and federal agencies can collaborate to catch those behind check washing.

“Like most federal agencies, especially in smaller areas where we don’t have as many as us, you have to work hand in hand,” Fernandes said.

It’s an issue the U.S. Postal Inspection Service says they are working to tackle.

“The Postmaster General and the Chief Postal Inspector have taken significant action to counter mail crimes—including the launch of Project Safe Delivery in May 2023. The program’s proactive approach has led to a significant decrease in robbery and mail theft incidents,” a spokesperson wrote in a statement to WCTV Investigates. “From fiscal year 2023 to fiscal year 2024, there was a 27% decrease in letter carrier robberies and that downward trend continues to this day. The program’s robust measures have led to over 2,400 arrests nationwide for postal-related robberies and mail theft.”

But some postal employees say that bringing cases like Wilson’s to justice may be harder now than ever.

“You have to stop it.”

Frank Albergo is the National President of the Postal Police Officers Association, which represents uniformed police officers with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS).

The longtime postal employee said he knows why mail crimes are soaring. He claims that dwindling resources for postal police are leading to more mail crimes.

“Mail theft is spiking, checks are being stolen, they’re being washed [and] they’re being counterfeited,” Albergo said. “You have to stop it. You have to stop it from happening.”

Albergo believes a big part of the issue is staffing.

“[USPIS teams] don’t have enough postal inspectors, and they certainly don’t have enough postal police officers,” he said.

No postal police officers are based in the Big Bend region of Florida, according to Fernandes with the USPIS. The closest officers are located in Atlanta and Miami, but the postal inspector said that they’re able to travel to the Big Bend if needed.

“We do have postal police officers, but they’re not utilized primarily here in Tallahassee,” Fernandes said.

He also said the USPIS is aware of postal police openings, and they’re actively recruiting officers and inspectors.

“We recognize that we need to continue to fulfill the vacancies that may be there, or maybe that we expect to be there as far as our staffing compliment, and we’re going to continue to try to hire what we need to hire to fill those vacancies,” he said.

The postal police union president also raised concerns over an internal memo sent out by USPIS management in August of 2020, which WCTV Investigates obtained through a public records request. The message outlines a policy change. When reached by WCTV Investigates in early 2025, USPIS officials said that the directives outlined in the memo are no longer in effect.

“Prior to 2020, any postal-related crime that happened out on the streets, we could respond to,” Albergo explained. “If a letter carrier requested protection, we would provide that protection.”

The 2020 memo backed that assertion, saying in part that, “Postal Police Officers (PPOs) may exercise certain law enforcement authority (i.e., enforce certain Federal laws and regulations, carry firearms, and make arrests for specified offenses) on real property owned, occupied, or otherwise controlled by the Postal Service; or in the immediate areas outside postal owned real property (sidewalks and walkways) to the extent necessary to protect the property and people on postal owned real property.”

However, the 2020 internal memo went on to say that authority would be limited.

“Effective immediately any off property utilization of PPOs requires prior approval of the DCI (Deputy Chief Inspector) over the Division with concurrence of the DCI over the Security Group,” the message said.

That message proved to be frustrating for postal police officers and is indicative of a bigger problem with resources for postal police officers, according to Albergo.

According to the postal police union president, that memo prevented postal police from being able to do their jobs.

“We couldn’t protect letter carriers. We couldn’t protect mail in transit any longer. We were confined to postal buildings,” Albergo said. “Postal police officers are confused. We want to be able to do our jobs.”

When asked about the 2020 memo, Fernandes referred WCTV Investigates to a USPIS national spokesperson. That USPIS representative said the memo has been rescinded and its policy changes are no longer in effect, although they didn’t specify when it was rolled back. They also disputed and rejected Albergo’s claims and other messages from the union he represents.

“Various public statements made by the Postal Police Officers Association supporting the claim that the Postal Service is actively preventing the utilization of a uniformed federal police force are legally and factually incorrect. Postal Police officers (PPOs) are assigned to specific facilities because the Postal Inspection Service has determined that these facilities require a high level of security that can be provided by the presence of uniformed, trained, and armed officers,” a statement from the USPIS said.

The USPIS statement said that “PPOs are deployed to provide security, enforce order, respond to medical emergencies, and act as a deterrent to criminals or employees who may wish to compromise the mailstream or potentially harm the people inside” at 20 “key facilities” in “major metropolitan areas.”

“These postal facilities are the workplaces of thousands of postal employees, and they process millions of pieces of mail and packages every day,” the message said, “Removing those officers from Postal Service property, where a significant concentration of employees and mail exists, would put at risk not only postal facilities, but the large concentration of employees and customers who use those facilities every day.”

The spokesperson also addressed Albergo’s claims about alleged limits to postal police officers’ authority.

“Additionally, there have been questions regarding the jurisdictional authority of PPOs. Contrary to the assertions made, neither any court nor arbitrator has contested the Postal Service’s interpretation that the law enforcement authority of PPOs is confined to the protection of Postal Service real property. This conclusion has remained unchallenged. In fact, in 2020, a federal court affirmed, in response to opposing claims, that the Postal Service’s determination of PPOs’ jurisdiction was a reasonable interpretation of the law,” the USPIS said. “And, even if the law permitted PPOs to exercise jurisdiction beyond the boundaries of the Postal Service’s property, relocating these officers from Postal Service property, as suggested by some, would not only jeopardize the security of the postal facilities but also pose a risk to the employees and customers who utilize these facilities daily.”

The statement also said that the U.S. Postal service is committed to protecting both its employees and the mail they help deliver.

The message went on to clarify the roles of postal inspectors and postal police officers.

“The Postal Inspection Service utilizes postal inspectors, along with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners, to investigate and prevent postal-related crimes both on and off Postal Service property,” the statement said. “Postal inspectors and PPOs are different positions within the Postal Inspection Service, with differing statutory authority. While both are essential to keeping employees, customers, and the mailstream safe – their roles and responsibilities are vastly different. While PPOs protect postal employees and customers at postal facilities, postal inspectors work diligently to ensure the integrity of the mailstream and combat postal-related crimes nationwide, especially robberies of letter carriers.”

Prevention is Key

Bankers and authorities alike emphasize that prevention is key.

“It’s better to prevent crime than to investigate it after the fact,” Albergo said.

Meanwhile, financial institutions like First Commerce Credit Union are trying new technology to protect consumers.

When it comes to fraud detection technology, Burkes said within the past year, their credit union found roughly $100,000 in fraudulent checks, including stolen, altered and washed checks that tried to clear members’ accounts.

“It looks for anomalies in either amounts or check numbers that clear your account,” Burkes said. “If you’re writing checks in a certain check number range, and it clears outside of that range, that would be something that would trigger an alert, or if the amount was larger. On the consumer side, we will pick those up and alert and reach out to our account holders and ask them, ‘Did you write this check? And, did you write this check to this person?’ And, that’s key.”

Overall, the goal is to keep checks from landing in the wrong hands, while also helping those impacted by criminal schemes.

As someone whose daily goal is to to support and protect others, Fernandes said it’s gratifying to see Wilson’s case progress.

“When you have a job, and you have a mission, and your mission is to protect the mail, when you put in a lot of work, and the results of the investigation is a successful prosecution, it’s a great feeling,” Fernandes said.

WCTV Investigates will provide details on Wilson’s sentencing on-air and on the WCTV news app.

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