A former United States Postal Service supervisor has been sentenced to three years of probation and slapped with a $20,000 fine for stealing items including PlayStation 4s, Nintendo consoles, and Apple devices among other items.
34-year old Zoheb A. Deura of Connecticut has been ordered to spend the first nine months of his three-year probation in home confinement by U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley. According to a Department of Justice press release spotted by Polygon, Deura stole the aforementioned items between February and April 2020. Following an investigation by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Deura was prosecuted. He subsequently resigned and pleaded guilty to “embezzlement of mail by a U.S. Postal Service employee.”
This development comes at an interesting time. Following the launch of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X last November, the internet was inundated with complaints – some with video and pictorial evidence – from customers whose consoles were mysteriously lost in the mail. A large number of those complaints across Europe and North America came from Amazon customers.
While we’re not aware of anyone being charged with theft of the new consoles, at least one UK-based journalist’s investigation suggested that the missing consoles were a case of nationwide organized crime. Amazon cut ties with a worker who was caught stealing a PS5 on camera, but has yet to release a statement explaining what steps it has taken in light of the widespread reports. That said, the retailer has been offering replacements to affected customers on a priority basis.
