Mail thief used knives to counterfeit postal keys, open boxes

In a Colorado Best Buy parking lot last November, Adam Turner was handcuffed and placed in the back of a police car. The arrest in Lone Tree would mark the end of his career as a prolific mail thief.

"That transaction was not small. It was like $1,100 total," Carlos Perlata said.

Police busted Turner buying high dollar electronics like a PlayStation and big screen television using a credit card opened in Perlata's name.

"I am blown away by how he could make those that purchase or those purchases," Perlata said.

Perlata immediately tied it back to a piece of mail he noticed was missing from his box.

"I get some notifications from the post office on what is the mail was going to be that day," he said.

He filed a complaint with the United States Post Office but never got a response about how someone got his mail.

"Everything looked like normal so I couldn't see anybody force the locks or anything, so it looks like nothing happened," Perlata added.

It wasn't until sitting down with a CBS Colorado crew that he learned Turner allegedly used a key .

Body worn camera video shows inside Turner's truck police found stacks of credit cards and several counterfeit arrow keys -- made from kitchen knives. Arrow keys are used by postal carriers to deliver mail to neighborhood cluster boxes, apartments and in some cases open blue postal boxes.

"This problem has become a recent problem, but it won't be a forever problem. We will take care of it.," Postal Inspector Melissa Atkin said.

Atkin points to their Project Safe Delivery initiative, which includes better tracking of those keys and an enormous and lengthy lift to move away from master keys altogether.

"Every single state in the country has upgraded security boxes and upgraded locks. Not every single box and every single lock has been upgraded but we have rolled out thousands of these boxes and locks even in Colorado we are continuing to work on that," she said.

Keeping mail thieves behind bars is also a priority.

Turner was arrested in El Paso County, but with no state mail theft charge he pleaded guilty to identify theft and criminal possession of financial devices. His sentence was just 24 months of probation.

It's a punishment that undoubtedly will increase if he is convicted on federal charges.

"The penalty really does depend on what charges we are able to prove. The lowest max penalty for theft of mail is 5 years," acting U.S Attorney Matt Kirsch said regarding mail crimes in general.

Kirsch says they have seen an increase in cases, but even more concerning are the ties to organized crime rings.

"They are not necessarily based in Colorado, but they are sending crews to Colorado to carry out larger scale mail thefts," he said.

For his office and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, building a case starts with community reporting and he urges customers to report even one piece of lost mail.

"We certainly can't do it if we don't find out about the thefts in the first place," Kirsch said.

For victims like Perlata, he only hopes the postal service will also work on their messaging and notify customers when boxes are compromised.

"You don't know when this is going to happen again," Perlata said.

Turner is set to go to trial on the federal charges in November.

The USPIS says the best place to report mail theft is by visiting their website or calling USPIS at 1-877-876-2455.