September 9, 2025 – LOS ANGELES, CA - An ex-US Postal Service employee from Orange County, named Rashad Deon Stolden, has been sentenced to serve 66 months in federal prison. The conviction is for stealing over $10 million in Treasury and other checks from mail over a period of four years. United States District Judge R. Gary Klausner has ordered Stolden to pay restitution of $1,627,291.

Stolden is a former employee of the Bicentennial Post Office in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles. According to the plea agreement and court documents, from 2020 until August 2024, he stole mail containing high value checks and debit cards from the California Employment Development Department (EDD), which handles the state’s unemployment insurance program.

Stolden and his friend, Charlie Green, who also work as letter carrier, sold stolen checks to co-conspirators, who then utilized counterfeit identity documents for negotiation purposes. Stolden and his conspirators also purchased the identity information of victims to activate stolen EDD cards.

In a specific incident from June 2022, Stolden stole a Treasury check valued at $7.3 million. A co-conspirator was able to withdraw over $1 million from the deposit of this check. Several of Stolden’s co-conspirators have been prosecuted separately.

The US Postal Service Office of Inspector General; US Postal Inspection Service; U.S. Department of Treasury for Tax Administration; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; and the Coast Guard Investigative Services were involved in the investigation of this case.

If you have EDD cards, be careful of potential theft and fraud. If there is any issues or problems with your EDD cards or your benefits, it is possible to directly contact EDD for assistance. Please visit www.eddcaller.com for information on how to get a hold of EDD and their customer service. This site provides details and information on contacting EDD, ways to speak with live representatives, phone numbers, and other related services.