That's exactly how Peter Lim, a 17-year postal employee, was caught in Houston. When he appeared in court, he told the judge that he was so angry with his supervisors that he opened greeting cards and stole $55 in cash, a $10 Wal-Mart gift card, a $20 Target gift card and a $50 Lowe's gift card. The total was $135 and, because of where Lim worked, it was a federal offense.

If it wasn't for the abuse of trust issue, Lim's attorney argued, these thefts would just be misdemeanors. But abuse of trust is exactly what these cases are about, and they are federal felonies. It's a federal felony for a postal carrier to steal mail or throw out mail. It's also a federal felony to stockpile junk mail in a backyard or storage shed, as other mail carriers have done in recent years.

The U.S. Postal Service says it has zero tolerance for employee theft because they want to ensure that the American public has faith in the postal system.

According to the latest semiannual report issued by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, there were 333 criminal cases filed against postal employees or contractors in the fiscal year ending September 30.

Employee thefts included in the report include a California postal supervisor who pleaded guilty in May to theft of mail in a case involving nearly 5,000 missing DVDs. In June, a North Dakota carrier was arrested, accused of stealing more than 36,000 pieces of mail.

In North Carolina, a postman beloved on his route for giving treats to dogs and conversing with his customers was sentenced to probation for burying tons of undelivered junk mail in his backyard. According to his attorney, the letter carrier buried the mail because he was reluctant to deliver the bulky mail due to his declining health.

Another Houston postal carrier faces jail time after being charged with aggravated identity theft after using three other women's identities to steal using checks and a credit card issued in the women's names.

(Source: http://www.chron.com)