Posted on: Wednesday, January 14, 2004

Postal worker gets almost 4 years for mail theft at airport

Advertiser Staff

A former U.S. Postal Service employee was sentenced to almost four years in federal prison for stealing mail and federal tax refund checks.

Walter Hayashi, 47, of Honolulu was sentenced to 45 months and fined $1,000 by U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway on Monday.

Hayashi had worked for the Postal Service for 22 years and pleaded guilty in July to stealing credit cards, personal identification numbers, Internet pass codes and U.S. Treasury checks while working as a distribution clerk at the airport post office.

Hayashi said in court that he was addicted to crystal methamphetamine, or "ice," when he stole mail.

Hayashi was accused of stealing mail from June 8, 2002, to July 23, 2002; he was caught with more than 50 Treasury checks.