Trio raided mailboxes to fund shopping spree at Target and rent hotels in NC, feds say

Three people in their 20s are accused of stealing mail from apartment complexes in North and South Carolina, then using the loot — namely credit cards and driver’s licenses — to rent cars and hotel rooms or go shopping, according to federal prosecutors.

Now two are in custody.

Haleem Cornelius Gilliland, 23, Shemar Isaiah Walker, 20, and Daron Quashawn Wright, 20, were charged with conspiracy to commit mail theft in a criminal indictment unsealed Thursday. Gilliland also faces charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Gilliland, who is from Charlotte, and Walker, who is from Atlanta, were arrested Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina said in a news release.

Wright is from Shelby, North Carolina, and hasn’t yet been arrested.

According to the release, the alleged mail theft scheme started in November 2019 and continued into 2020. During that time, prosecutors said the trio took “letters, postal cards, packages, bags, and other mail (collectively, mail) from the mailboxes of at least nine apartment complexes in North and South Carolina.”

On Nov. 8, 2019, Gilliland allegedly took mail from apartment complexes on Providence Road and Double Creek Crossing Drive. She also tried to open mailboxes at a complex on Cherokee Road, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors said someone’s credit card was stolen from a mailbox on Ballantyne Lake Road in Charlotte on Dec. 2, 2019. Four days later, Gilliland and others used the card at Target, according to the indictment.

From January to March 2020, Gilliland and others are accused of raiding mailboxes at apartment complexes on Bryton Gap Boulevard in Huntersville, North Carolina; Marrett Boulevard in Rock Hill, South Carolina; and Claire Lane in Mooresville, North Carolina.

Gilliland is also accused of using stolen driver’s licenses and credit cards to rent a vehicle and pay for a room at the Hampton Inn in Charlotte.

Throughout March and into June, prosecutors said Gilliland, Walker and Wright also took mail from the Thornberry Apartments on Brickleberry Lane and the Colonial Grand Apartments on Mallard Hill Drive in Charlotte.

According to the indictment, Gilliland again used the stolen driver’s licenses and credit cards to rent a car in Charlotte and book a hotel room in Asheville at the Hampton Inn & Suites.

If convicted, the conspiracy to commit mail theft charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Gilliland faces an additional 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the wire fraud charge as well as two years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the identity theft charge.