Ex-Calif. postal worker who stole veterans’ drugs to serve 1 year in prison

A former Placerville U.S. Postal Service employee was sentenced to a year in prison for stealing narcotic prescriptions from military veterans, officials said. 

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Carrie Wallace, a 48-year-old resident of Fort Bragg, was sentenced last week for the theft, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release. Wallace specifically targeted mail sent to patients from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the attorney’s office said, which often have prescription medications.

According to court documents,Wallace first tampered with the packages in August 2024, replacing prescription drugs with over-the-counter medications. Officials said she acted with “reckless disregard for the risk of placing another person at risk of death and bodily injury.” 

Wallace obtained the drugs by cutting into the mail, replacing the medication and retaping the packages before putting them back into the mail, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.Some of the veterans who received packages with over-the-counter medication experienced “extreme pain, increased agitation, anger, and other mental health symptoms,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

In April, Wallace pleaded guilty to stealing and tampering with the packages under a plea agreement, court documents show.

Several letters of support for Wallace were filed with the U.S. Eastern District of California on Sept. 21, the day of her sentencing hearing. 

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Christina Justice, a friend from Wallace’s high school, asked the judge to lessen Wallace’s sentence. Justice said she observed Wallace experience “difficult events” over the last several years. 

“I believe addiction can change anyone,” she wrote. “It can lead people to make choices that those who have loved and known them for years never imagined they would make.” 

In addition to Wallace’s one-year prison sentence, she will also serve 36 months of supervised released as officials provide her with substance use and mental health treatment. Wallace is also ordered to pay a $200 special assessment. 

Additional details about the mail theft were not immediately available as some of Wallace’s case documents are still sealed with the U.S. Eastern District of California as of Monday.