CHARLOTTE — A former United States Postal Service mail carrier from Charlotte has been sentenced to prison for her role in a multi-million-dollar bank fraud conspiracy involving stolen mail.
Kiara Padgett, 31, was ordered to serve six months in prison followed by six months of home detention.
Prosecutors said Padgett stole business and personal checks from her postal route between August 2021 and November 2022.
The checks were then funneled through her husband, Dominique Dunlap, who sold them to co-conspirators, including Terrell Alexander Hager Jr.
The stolen checks were deposited into various bank accounts and quickly withdrawn before victims or banks could detect the fraud.
According to court records, the total face value of the stolen checks exceeded $8.5 million. Padgett pleaded guilty in September 2023 to conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
Dunlap was previously sentenced to 70 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $1.6 million in restitution. Hager was sentenced to three years in prison.
VIDEO: Postal worker faces federal charges for allegedly stealing checks
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