LEXINGTON, Ky. – Two Lexington residents admitted in federal court Monday to stealing more than 150 cellphones from the mail and reselling them in a scheme that cost a shipping company more than $50,000.
According to court records, John Travis Howard and his wife, Trina R. Howard, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Karen K. Caldwell to conspiracy to defraud the United States. Both waived indictment and accepted plea agreements laying out their roles in the thefts, which occurred between June and November 2024 in Fayette and Mercer counties.
Prosecutors said John Howard abused his access to mailed parcels through his job to identify and remove packages containing new cellphones. The couple then sold the devices at automated kiosks, to private buyers, and through intermediaries. Court filings state about 150 phones were stolen, with roughly 130 belonging to a single company. The company’s losses totaled about $50,830, averaging $391 per device…