NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Three men have been convicted of robbing a U.S. Postal Service (USPS) mail carrier in Hampton last year.
According to prosecutors, 21-year-old O'Sirus Landres Charles Ford of Chesapeake, 21-year-old Jayden Stukes, and 24-year-old Da'Twan Watson of Chesapeake pleaded guilty to the May 9, 2023 robbery.
The Department of Justice said Watson and Ford committed the robbery, while Stukes remained in the getaway car along with a friend and communicating with them on social media to help find a victim.
Watson and Ford located a mail carrier on Galax Street in Hampton. Both men were fully masked and when they approached the mail carrier on foot, Ford pulled out a gun and said, "Give me your keys or I’m gonna shoot you." He then repeated his demand and began counting down from five.
The victim gave Ford his USPS arrow key. Arrow keys are "master keys" that can be used to access blue collection boxes, outdoor parcel lockers, and apartment mailbox panels.
Ford and Watson from the scene and eventually met up with Stukes and the driver in a nearby apartment complex. Prosecutors said that while Ford was the only suspect to show a gun, all three men had been armed during the robbery.
They were all eventually arrested and 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.
Watson and Stukes, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to interfering with commerce by robbery and aiding and abetting.
Both Watson and Stukes were sentenced this week to four years in prison, while Ford is scheduled to be sentenced on May 2.
