Former Postal Worker Gets 1-Year Term in Mail Theft

OAKLAND — An ex-postal employee accused of stealing more than 16,000 pieces of mail has received a one-year sentence.

Satjagroop Singh Randhawa, 30, of Richmond will probably serve the term in a halfway house.

He was sentenced Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Lowell Jensen and fined $30,000.

His attorney had argued that Randhawa should not be imprisoned because he suffers from kleptomania.

Prosecutors say Randhawa sold 16,439 items while working at a postal center where bulk mail is sorted.

Randhawa, who has been fired, pleaded guilty to a single count of possessing stolen mail as part of a plea bargain.

Prosecutors said he knew what he was doing. Items found in Randhawa’s garage were sorted by type, and some were marked for sale.

Much of the mail is undeliverable, and postal inspectors say they will auction it off to help pay the fine.