KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -
A former part-time postal employee was found guilty Monday in federal court after stealing money from a young girl's birthday card.
A jury in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City deliberated for about four hours before returning the guilty verdict.
Leonard V. Jenkins, 44, of Kansas City, MO, was convicted of delaying the delivery of mail after he was caught on surveillance video putting mail in his pockets, including the money from a young girl's birthday card.
According to a federal indictment, on Nov. 4, 2008, Jenkins was recorded on surveillance video placing mail in his pockets while working on a mail sorting line.
Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, states in a news release that numerous post offices across Kansas City received mail that had been opened and rifled through, all of which had been sorted on a machine operated by Jenkins.
Evidence during the trial indicated that a woman had sent a birthday card to her great-granddaughter and enclosed a $10 bill in the card. When investigators found the opened envelope in Jenkins' work area, there was no money inside.
Under federal statutes, Jenkins could face up to five years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000.
Sentencing is scheduled after the completion of a pre-sentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
