Man uses USPS key and mom’s rental car to steal 1,000 pieces of mail in Florida, feds say

A man used a stolen U.S. Postal Service key to steal over 1,000 pieces of mail in Florida, then he fled deputies at 98 mph in his mom’s rental car, federal officials said.

Ryan Aheran, 28, pleaded guilty to mail theft and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced March 27.

McClatchy News reached out to Aheran’s attorney for comment March 27 and did not immediately receive a response. According to the plea agreement, Aheran accepted responsibility for his actions. A sentencing date has not been set.

Business owners in a corporate park in Orlando began reporting that their mail was being stolen in early 2024, the United States Postal Inspection Service wrote in a criminal complaint.

Investigators said they found no sign that someone was forcibly breaking into the mailboxes, so they figured someone must have been using a stolen USPS master key to open the boxes.

Postal inspectors put a tracking device in a mailbox in case someone would break in, and Aheran did at around 4 a.m. on Oct. 1, according to the complaint.

The tracker began moving, so deputies with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office found the vehicle and started following it, authorities said.

Aheran fled deputies, and data from the tracker showed he hit speeds of nearly 100 mph before he ditched the car in a neighborhood and ran away, according to the postal inspector.

A resident called 911 to report seeing a man running between houses, but all deputies found was a black ski mask on the ground, according to the complaint.

Investigators searched the discarded vehicle, which they learned was a rental car registered to Aheran’s mom, and they reported finding over 1,000 pieces of stolen mail and packages in the car, mostly in trash bags.

Authorities said they also found two USPS arrow keys and a box of latex gloves.

Several weeks after the police chase, law enforcement pulled over a vehicle Aheran was riding in and found him with a bag containing a gun, other people’s mail, debit and credit cards in other people’s names, over $1,000 in cash and other contraband, investigators said.

Aheran had been on law enforcement’s radar for nearly a year. In November 2023, he was accused of depositing a $9,500 check that had been stolen from outgoing mail, according to the complaint. A source also told police in December 2023 that they helped Aheran steal mail with a USPS arrow key, investigators said.

Aheran had previously been convicted of burglary and drug offenses, which made it illegal for him to possess firearms, authorities said.

This story was originally published March 27, 2025 at 6:36 PM with the headline "Man uses USPS key and mom’s rental car to steal 1,000 pieces of mail in Florida, feds say."