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A former Alamo Post Office employee was sentenced Tuesday to 18 months in prison and ordered to repay nearly $40,000 after being convicted by a jury last October.
Hayward resident Emmanuel Odion Esezobor, 51, was convicted of stealing public money and passing counterfeit bills, according to United States Attorney Melinda Haag.
He was convicted by a jury on Oct.27, after a three-day trial on one count of theft of public money, and seven counts of passing counterfeit $100 bills. Evidence presented at trial showed that Esezobor issued himself $13,800 worth of U.S. postal money orders and paid for them with counterfeit bills in February and March of last year. The evidence showed that Esezobor had passed similar bills at his credit union in Hayward in November 2010 and knew the bills were counterfeit.
At sentencing,U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken found that the defendant stole a total amount of $43,500 from the Alamo Post Office. As a result, she ordered restitution in the amount of $39,973.62, the remaining balance owed to the Alamo Post Office.
Wilken also sentenced the defendant to a three-year period of supervised release. The defendant will begin serving his sentence on March 13, 2012.
Esezobor was indicted by a federal grand jury on April 14, 2011. The prosecution was the result of a year-long investigation by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Secret Service.
