FORMER POSTAL EMPLOYEE SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR
STEALING THOUSANDS OF NETFLIX AND BLOCKBUSTER DVDs

                (HOUSTON, TX) - Judge Lynn Hughes sentenced Anthony Zuniga, 53, of Houston, to eighteen months in federal prison for stealing mail while working as a postal employee, United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle, Jr. announced today. 

                At a hearing this afternoon, Judge Hughes sentenced Zuniga to two concurrent eighteen months sentences for his two convictions for theft of mail by a postal employee in violation if 18 U.S.C. § 1709.  Hughes also sentenced Zuniga to three years supervised release upon completion of his prison sentence and ordered Zuniga to pay a $4,000 fine.  Zuniga will be allowed to remain on bond until his surrender date. 
               
                Zuniga was working as a Post Office Box Clerk at the postal facility at 401 Franklin Street in Houston when the thefts occurred.  During 2006, the Postal Service received reports from Netflix, a company that rents DVDs through the mail, that an unusually high number of DVDs being returned to the Netflix P.O. Box in Houston were missing.  The U.S. Postal Inspectors conducted surveillance at the 401 Franklin Street facility where the Netflix P.O. Box was located.  On Aug. 3, 2006, Inspectors observed Zuniga dumping a tub of Netflix and Blockbuster DVDs into a plastic bag and then leaving the postal facility with the plastic bag.  Zuniga’s vehicle was stopped as it was exiting the parking lot and Inspectors observed the plastic bag containing the DVDs on the floor of the vehicle.  The bag contained 122 DVDs.  After an interview with Postal Inspectors, Zuniga consented to a search of his residence.  Inspectors founds 8177 stolen pieces of mail in Zuniga’s residence, including 5937 Netflix DVDs and 1497 Blockbuster DVDs.  Zuniga, who had been a Postal Service employee since 1974, resigned his job after being caught stealing the DVDs.

                This case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Gregg Costa.

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