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I once committed mail fraud when I was 17 years old. I had been using the return address as a destination address on envelopes to send mail to places for free w

by xwdv 3y ago

I once committed mail fraud when I was 17 years old. I had been using the return address as a destination address on envelopes to send mail to places for free without stamps. Finally got caught one day at the local branch. Postal Inspectors said I could face 20 to 30 years in federal prison.

kylecazar 3y ago
In other words just not putting stamps at all, and the postal service would 'return' it to the address listed as return (which is actually your destination)?
- selimthegrim 3y ago
  Don't they stamp "postage due" on it if you're short postage?
  - zie 3y ago
    They do, but if you put it in a public post box(like say @ the post office), the only way they know where to send it is to the return address.
WinstonSmith84 3y ago
That's insane. 20 to 30 years in federal prison for having defrauded the post of how many letters? Imagining you've been sending couple of letters a weeks at most, that's like what? $10 per months!?
- civilitty 3y ago
  That's just the maximum they use to scare people with. Federal sentencing guidelines aren't that severe and a first time offender with something as mild as using the return address to send a few letters would plead out to a few hundred or thousand dollar fine and maybe probation, say nothing of the fact that the OP was underage. IANAL but to get 20 years they'd have to commit a massive fraud that ended in some serious damage like costing victims million of dollars with some other mitigating circumstances.
  - hollerith 3y ago
    >to get 20 years they'd have to commit a massive fraud . . . with some other mitigating circumstances. You mean aggravating circumstances.
    - fsckboy 3y ago
      just knowing that my neighbor was sending his mail this way would aggravate me!
- MajimasEyepatch 3y ago
  Federal sentencing rules are very complex and take into account both the severity of the crime (as determined by its "offense level," of which there are 43) and the defendant's criminal history. I don't know the offense level of the particular crime mentioned in the comment, but presumably it would be fairly low, and since the defendant would have been a minor with (presumably) no federal criminal history, it's very unlikely IMO that they would have seen anywhere near that long if they were convicted. My guess is fines, probation, maybe a few months at worst, but judging by the tone of the comment, it seems like basically nothing happened and this was just a "scared straight" scenario.[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Federal_Sentencing_Guidelines#Sentencing_table https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Federal_Sentenci...
murphyslaw 3y ago
I was part of a conspiracy to commit massive credit card fraud as a minor (thankfully all no longer relevant). I was given AT&T calling card numbers which were pilfered right from the USPS to use to connect to US BBSes to download hacked software. The Belgian guy I was in with got raided by the police. His hard disks had been hidden behind a brick wall with only the cables visible. They didn't find the hard disks so he got away with it, and I never got arrested or charged. Good times.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
sprokolopolis 3y ago
I tried this a few times as a little kid to see if it would work. If I sent it from my home, it didn't work and I got it returned with red pen notes on it explaining how to send it properly. I am sure it looked like a little kids writing, so they gave me the benefit of the doubt. Next I mailed it from the post office and that actually worked, as long as it was being sent locally.

by xwdv 3y ago

kylecazar 3y ago

In other words just not putting stamps at all, and the postal service would 'return' it to the address listed as return (which is actually your destination)?

selimthegrim 3y ago
Don't they stamp "postage due" on it if you're short postage?
- zie 3y ago
  They do, but if you put it in a public post box(like say @ the post office), the only way they know where to send it is to the return address.

WinstonSmith84 3y ago

That's insane. 20 to 30 years in federal prison for having defrauded the post of how many letters? Imagining you've been sending couple of letters a weeks at most, that's like what? $10 per months!?

civilitty 3y ago
That's just the maximum they use to scare people with. Federal sentencing guidelines aren't that severe and a first time offender with something as mild as using the return address to send a few letters would plead out to a few hundred or thousand dollar fine and maybe probation, say nothing of the fact that the OP was underage. IANAL but to get 20 years they'd have to commit a massive fraud that ended in some serious damage like costing victims million of dollars with some other mitigating circumstances.
- hollerith 3y ago
  >to get 20 years they'd have to commit a massive fraud . . . with some other mitigating circumstances. You mean aggravating circumstances.
  - fsckboy 3y ago
    just knowing that my neighbor was sending his mail this way would aggravate me!
MajimasEyepatch 3y ago
Federal sentencing rules are very complex and take into account both the severity of the crime (as determined by its "offense level," of which there are 43) and the defendant's criminal history. I don't know the offense level of the particular crime mentioned in the comment, but presumably it would be fairly low, and since the defendant would have been a minor with (presumably) no federal criminal history, it's very unlikely IMO that they would have seen anywhere near that long if they were convicted. My guess is fines, probation, maybe a few months at worst, but judging by the tone of the comment, it seems like basically nothing happened and this was just a "scared straight" scenario.[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Federal_Sentencing_Guidelines#Sentencing_table https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Federal_Sentenci...

murphyslaw 3y ago

I was part of a conspiracy to commit massive credit card fraud as a minor (thankfully all no longer relevant). I was given AT&T calling card numbers which were pilfered right from the USPS to use to connect to US BBSes to download hacked software. The Belgian guy I was in with got raided by the police. His hard disks had been hidden behind a brick wall with only the cables visible. They didn't find the hard disks so he got away with it, and I never got arrested or charged. Good times.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

sprokolopolis 3y ago

I tried this a few times as a little kid to see if it would work. If I sent it from my home, it didn't work and I got it returned with red pen notes on it explaining how to send it properly. I am sure it looked like a little kids writing, so they gave me the benefit of the doubt. Next I mailed it from the post office and that actually worked, as long as it was being sent locally.