AirPods stolen from mail are tracked to USPS worker’s Louisiana home, feds say
A customer’s new AirPods were missing from a package that had been clearly “opened and resealed,” leading them to believe the devices were stolen, according to federal court filings.
With the help of tracking technology, the AirPod Pros were found at a U.S. Postal Service employee’s home in New Orleans, where she worked at a mail processing and distribution center, court documents say.
The now-former postal worker, Sonia Miller, was caught on camera opening and stealing mail from at least seven packages at her workplace between January 2023 and April 2023, according to court documents.
The investigation that began with the customer reporting their AirPods as stolen resulted in Miller pleading guilty to theft of U.S. mail by a postal employee, a federal charge, according to prosecutors.
Now, a federal judge has sentenced Miller to three years of probation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana said in a May 5 news release.
She avoided a possible prison sentence, as the charge of mail theft by a postal employee can lead to a potential consequence of up to five years in prison.
Miller’s defense attorneys didn’t immediately return McClatchy News’ request for comment May 6.
Before the stolen AirPods were reported missing in January 2023, an investigation revealed the package that was supposed to include the devices had been scanned at the New Orleans mail facility, where Miller worked, days earlier, according to court documents.
Then, surveillance footage from January to April 2023 showed Miller rifling through a variety of parcels on multiple occasions and pocketing at least one mailed item in her bag, prosecutors wrote in filings.
The USPS Office of the Inspector General investigated Miller, who’s due back in court for a restitution hearing scheduled for July 24, court records show.
More on mail theft
During the early COVID-19 pandemic, there was a sharp increase in mail theft complaints, according to a September 2023 report issued by the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General.
From March 2020 through February 2021, there were 299,020 mail theft complaints — a 161% increase “compared to the same period in the previous year,” the report said.
Suspected mail theft can be reported to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service online or by calling 1-877-876-2455.
This story was originally published May 6, 2025 at 1:33 PM with the headline "AirPods stolen from mail are tracked to USPS worker’s Louisiana home, feds say."
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