Postal worker and son stole $5M, went on ‘lavish’ vacations, feds say. They get prison
.jpg "A former U.S. Postal Service employee and his son will serve prison time in connection with the theft of more than $5 million, feds say.")
A former U.S. post office supervisor and his son were sentenced to prison after prosecutors said they stole $5.1 million in postal money orders, then splurged on luxury cars and “lavish” vacations.
A San Diego federal court judge sentenced Dewayne Morris Sr., 65, to serve seven years in prison and his son, Dewayne Morris Jr., to 12 years and six months in prison on Jan. 8, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California said in a news release.
The father and son, both of Inglewood, in Los Angeles County, were found guilty of conspiracy and bank fraud charges in January 2024, according to prosecutors.
Morris Sr. stole blank postal money orders worth more than $5.1 million at a post office he supervised, prosecutors said. He oversaw three Los Angeles area post offices in Venice, Playa del Rey and Marina del Rey, McClatchy News previously reported.
His son “recruited a team of criminals to convert the stolen money orders to cash”” and “repaid (his father) in part” with cars and international trips, prosecutors wrote in court filings.
Morris Sr.’s attorney didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment Jan. 9.
Morris Jr.’s attorney, Anthony E. Colombo Jr., told McClatchy News on Jan. 9 that his client “maintains his innocence and that his conviction was based upon perjured testimony.”
“He was acquitted by the jury of aggravated identity theft and a separate count of bank fraud was dismissed,” Colombo Jr. said in an emailed statement.
According to prosecutors, Morris Jr. threatened to kill a witness in the case after offering them money — which they refused — while out on bond. He was also accused of witness tampering in connection with three co-conspirators who testified against him.
Colombo Jr., in his emailed statement, said Morris Jr. will be appealing his case “to raise the issues relating to the perjured testimony used to sustain his conviction” and that “he fully believes a new trial will be ordered.”
Morris Jr. is the brother of professional basketball player Darius Morris, who played for the Los Angles Lakers and Clippers, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Darius Morris was 33 when he died of coronary artery disease in May, a few months after his brother and father, Morris Sr., were convicted, according to the newspaper, which reported there was “no indication that Darius Morris had any connection with the case.”
Stolen postal money orders used to fund ‘extravagant greed’
Morris Jr. gave the postal money orders Morris Sr. stole to other individuals, prosecutors said. These co-conspirators deposited the money into bank accounts and withdrew the cash, according to prosecutors.
The co-conspirators testified that Morris Jr. gave them fake driver’s licenses, allowing them to open various bank accounts, according to prosecutors.
“They also testified that Morris Jr. joined them for out-of-state trips to convert the money orders to cash — testimony corroborated by airline records — and that he collected most of the cash proceeds,” prosecutors said.
Morris Jr. deposited more than $2 million in cash into his bank accounts and bought multiple luxury cars for himself and his father, including a Mercedes-Benz, according to prosecutors.
Within 10 weeks, prosecutors said Morris Jr. also paid for him and his father to take three vacations to Costa Rica, Grand Cayman and Los Cabos, Mexico.
They stayed at a Four Seasons resort and a Ritz-Carlton hotel during these trips, according to prosecutors.
“These defendants ran a scheme that tricked banks into cashing millions in stolen postal orders to fund their extravagant greed,” U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath said in a statement.
Eight co-defendants were sentenced to federal prison in connection with their roles in the scheme, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
“Postal money order fraud schemes negatively impact the American economy and Postal Service operations,” Christopher Paige, the acting executive special agent-in-charge of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General’s western Pacific area field office, said in a statement.
This story was originally published January 9, 2025 at 4:16 PM with the headline "Postal worker and son stole $5M, went on ‘lavish’ vacations, feds say. They get prison."
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