HAMPTON ROADS, Va. — Two local men both received four-year prison sentences for their roles in the armed robbery of a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier in Hampton Roads.
The News 3 Investigative Team continues to follow through on a story we have been telling you about for over two years.
"Hunting the mailman" is how federal prosecutors described the behavior of the men who were just sentenced this week.
Federal prosecutors recently cited our story in court documents that give their recommendation for the sentencing of Jayden Stukes from Suffolk and Da’twan Watson from Chesapeake.
Stukes and Watson admitted to their role in a scheme last May to rob postal carriers in Norfolk and Hampton.
They aimed to steal USPS arrow keys, which can open many different kinds of mailboxes in a given area code. This includes blue collection boxes, outdoor parcel lockers, and apartment mailbox panels.
Investigations
Chesapeake man admits hunting down and robbing 2 postal carriers over 2 days
On May 9, 2023, prosecutors says, Chesapeake man O’Sirus Ford, 21, robbed a Hampton mail carrier at gunpoint for his arrow key. He recruited Stukes, 21, to help him in the robbery, prosecutors say.
Ford specifically wanted to steal a key in the Newport News/Hampton area and asked Stukes to drive him “across the water,” prosecutors say.
Stukes agreed and informed Ford he would be with Da’Twan Watson, 24. Stukes said Watson was “a lock," according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors describe what happened next:
"Ford, Stukes, and Watson met at the rental car that Ford had used the previous day for another armed robbery – that time, of a mail carrier in Norfolk – they were unable to gain entry to the vehicle, so Stukes arranged for another of his friends to drive the group. Ford, Stukes, and Watson were all armed with handguns and had masks to cover their faces.”
Watson and Ford encountered the mail carrier on Galax Street in Hampton, pulled out a gun, and said, “Give me your keys or I’m gonna shoot you,” according to prosecutors
Watson and Stukes pleaded guilty to interfering with commerce by robbery and aiding and abetting.
Stukes' attorney told News 3 by phone that he’s a college student who is remorseful about what happened, has never been in trouble and is taking full responsibility for what he did.
On Dec. 21, 2023, Ford pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to interfere with commerce by robbery and one count of using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of, a crime of violence, prosecutors say.
Prosecutors state in the records that robbing postal carriers has been an alarming trend that’s spread like wildfire across the county, hitting the Peninsula particularly hard in 2023 with some of the highest rates in the nation.
As postal carrier robberies get more attention, prosecutors want to deter other criminals from this behavior.
Ford is currently scheduled to be sentenced on May 2.
