A Northern California man who passed 884 bad checks to buy stamps and other merchandise at U.S. post offices around the west pleaded guilty Thursday to theft of government property, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego.
Richard George Haley, 43, also agreed to make $350,000 in restitution during a federal court hearing.
Prosecutors said Haley used counterfeit checks or checks with insufficient funds at post offices in California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington from Jan. 14, 2014 to June 5 of this year.
Haley, of the Bay Area city of Campbell, was arrested on June 6 at a hotel in Tempe, Arizona.
Investigators reported finding that he possessed around 100 rolls of postage stamps, post office receipts, blank checks printed in his name, blank check stock and address listings for several post office locations in Arizona.
He faces 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 when he’s sentenced on Dec. 8, in addition to the $350,000 in restitution.
–City News Service
