Iowa postal worker cashed $62,000 in stolen checks after names were changed, feds say

A former postal employee has been sentenced to three years in federal prison after officials say she stole nearly $650,000 in checks while working at an Iowa post office.

Amy Jurisic, formerly of Dubuque, was recently sentenced in the Northern District of Iowa after pleading guilty to mail theft in June, according to a news release. Authorities say the 38-year-old, now of Carterville, Georgia, stole the mail while working as a postal clerk at the Dubuque Post Office.

Jurisic is accused of stealing more than 60 pieces of mail from June 2017 through at least October 2018. The mail pieces contained checks written out to a business in Dubuque, according to the news release.

The defense attorney representing Jurisic did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Authorities say Jurisic would give the stolen checks to a person in Chicago as part of a “check-cashing operation.”

“The operation would change the names on the check and attempt to deposit the checks into various bank accounts,” officials said.

Of the almost $650,000 in stolen checks, authorities say about $62,000 was deposited into bank accounts. The other checks were not processed by the banks as they were “flagged as fraudulent.”

As part of her sentence, Jurisic was ordered to pay $62,456.33 in restitution to the victims, according to the news release. And, after completing her three years in prison, she’ll face three years of supervised release.

Dubuque is on the eastern Iowa border near the Mississippi River.

This story was originally published December 14, 2021 at 5:32 PM with the headline "Iowa postal worker cashed $62,000 in stolen checks after names were changed, feds say."