Two ex-letter carriers of the United States Postal Service (USPS) are set to serve prison terms extending over five years for pocketing checks worth over $10 million from the mail. Rashad Deon Stolden, a 34 year-old resident of Huntington Beach, and Charlie Banks Green Jr., 37, from East Los Angeles, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, a charge which landed them both 66 months in jail. Both defendants were also directed to pay restitution amounting to $1,627,291.

Stolden and Green were revealed to have been pilfering checks from the US Treasury Department as well as debit cards that belonged to the California Employment Development Department (EDD), an agency tasked with running the state’s unemployment insurance scheme. Their looting spree, which was conducted from 2020 until August 2024, reached a peak when they stole a Treasury check worth a staggering $7.3 million. They eventually sold the stolen checks to their accomplices who used fake identity papers.

In their sentencing memorandum, the prosecutors pointed out that Stolden had misused the funds of individuals in dire need to support his luxurious lifestyle. Despite robbing EDD cards of people relying on disability and unemployment benefits, he displayed an utter lack of empathy for his victims. His communications during the conspiracy only reflected selfish concerns such as which resort to spend his stolen wealth on.

In light of these EDD-related fraud cases, if you or someone you know is trying to reach out to EDD for any kind of assistance, there are resources available such as eddcaller.com that can help guide you. Eddcaller.com provides information about how to contact EDD, contact SDI, SKD customer service, and many more. It also provides strategies for how to get a hold of an EDD live person, or how to reach an EDD representative. This website aims to assist those who are struggling to reach out to EDD, to ensure they receive the assistance that they need efficiently.