A Chicago man who stole a master key from a USPS letter carrier while wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet was sentenced to eight years in federal prison, officials reported Monday. Henry Moorer, 33, pled guilty to a federal robbery charge in October, and U.S. District Judge John Tharp Jr. sentenced him earlier this month, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago.
According to federal authorities, Moorer drove a Dodge Charger to the 700 block of South Claremont Avenue in Tri-Taylor on March 18, 2022, where he saw a postal carrier delivering mail. After parking, he approached the carrier and offered to purchase the worker’s arrow key, which is a universal USPS key used to open collection boxes, outdoor parcel lockers, apartment mailbox panels, and other postal receptacles.
Moorer went away after the carrier declined to offer him the key. A short time later, he reappeared and said something like, “I’m not going to lie to you.” “I need those keys.”
When the carrier inquired about being robbed, Moorer allegedly took a black semiautomatic handgun from the pocket of his hooded sweatshirt, exposed the weapon’s buttstock, and replied something along the lines of, “Nothing against you. I do not wish to hurt or point it at you. I only need the keys.”
According to officials, the carrier lifted their hands, and Moorer removed the arrow key from their belt before returning to the Dodge Charger and driving away.
Stolen arrow keys are valuable on the black market because one key may open dozens of mailboxes at once, allowing burglars to collect checks, credit cards, bank statements, tax paperwork, and other financial information with little effort. Some offenders operate alone, while others work inside more organized networks that launder money, alter checks, and traffic personal information.
About six weeks before the heist, Chicago police arrested Moorer and charged him with being an armed habitual offender after discovering a handgun inside the same Dodge Charger. He was released. Eight days later, he was detained again after his girlfriend said he shattered the window of her car, grabbed her, and drove away in the same Charger. According to court records, he was freed on electronic monitoring but was still wearing the ankle monitor when he robbed the mail carrier.
Moorer remained on electronic monitoring until March 2024, when he was arrested for allegedly committing two burglaries while wearing the ankle monitor. Federal agents later tied him to the postal carrier robbery and filed charges.
Moorer pled guilty in state court to being a felon in possession of a handgun and two burglary offenses. According to Illinois Department of Corrections statistics, he is scheduled to be released on parole in January 2029.
In a sentencing document, federal officials stated that his criminal record includes convictions for cocaine possession in 2013, credit card fraud in 2015, evading electronic monitoring in 2015, aggravated unauthorized use of a weapon in 2017, and marijuana possession in 2021.
Leave a Comment