This Monday, a man was sentenced to two years in federal prison for conspiring to conduct mail theft. The man drove his pickup vehicle to smash down a mailbox so he could go through its contents.
Over a five-month period, 45-year-old Jason James Petiprin acknowledged taking mail in the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo regions.
According to court documents, stolen credit cards were also used at retailers, and checks that were taken from the mail were subsequently changed before being paid or presented at establishments.
Investigators indicated that Petiprin stole mail between December 2021 and late April 2022 while collaborating with others. According to court documents, he once used his truck to smash down a mailbox belonging to a company outside of Kalamazoo, “taking the mailbox away and searching it for mail.”
According to court filings, he and other conspirators reportedly hired three rooms at a motel in Kalamazoo, where they kept the identification documents, credit cards, and checks that they had stolen.
August 2023 saw the arrest of Periprin, a person with a history of drug and alcohol misuse. In December, he entered a guilty plea to the allegation of conspiring to steal mail.
Defender Helen C. Nieuwenhuis stated in a sentencing letter, “He indicated that his arrest in this case was actually a good thing as his addiction was out of control.” “Mr. Petiprin acknowledges that he must take responsibility for his actions and accepts those consequences.”
