Former HHI postal worker convicted of mail theft, ordered to pay thousands in restitution
A former Hilton Head Island postal employee who nabbed thousands of dollars from customers’ mail will dodge jail time but was ordered to return to sender: She’ll pay $12,896 in restitution to 111 victims she stole from, a U.S. district judge ruled last month.
Hardeeville resident Thylenthia Tobet Young, 44, was convicted of one count of mail theft by a USPS employee and sentenced to five years of probation at her hearing June 20 in a Charleston federal courtroom. Beginning in mid-August, her interest-free restitution must be paid in minimum monthly installments of $250, meaning the amount should be paid in full by the end of 2028.
An itemized list of the court-ordered restitution payments shows individual victims’ financial losses ranging from $10 to $1,000. The list likely overlaps with the dozens dozens of islanders’ complaints documented by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette last summer, which date back to May 2022 and primarily involve missing cash, checks or gift cards.
In addition to standard probationary conditions — such as a ban from owning firearms and communicating with others engaged in criminal activity — Young must honor her probation officer’s request for any of her financial information and cannot open new lines of credit without permission, according to details filed July 8 in South Carolina’s District Court.
Under U.S. Code, the felony charge of mail theft carries a maximum punishment of $250,000 in fines and five years in prison. Although Young will pay a $100 assessment as required for any federally convicted felon, any additional payments were waived by the court because she “does not have the ability to pay a fine,” the sentencing document says.
Young worked as a rural carrier, meaning she sorted mail inside the office before departing on a delivery route across the island. Following years of complaints of missing mail on Hilton Head, she resigned from the north-island post office location in May 2023 and was indicted on three felony counts of mail theft in September. She and her lawyer maintained her innocence until prosecutors introduced a plea deal in March 2024, dismissing two of her three counts in exchange for a guilty plea.
Indictment documents accused Young of thieving from three pieces of mail in April and May of 2023. Court records do not specify what was taken from residents’ deliveries, although emails obtained last summer from an official at the Office of Inspector General indicate the theft included the embezzlement of checks and at least one stolen gift card.
Darrell Thomas Johnson Jr., a Hardeeville attorney representing Young, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Young could not be reached on Tuesday.
Mail theft across Beaufort County
It’s been a tough year for mail in and around Beaufort County. Just before the holidays, residents and business owners in Ridgeland complained of massively delayed deliveries, which the Postal Service attributed to a staffing shortage.
The reported problems are not contained to federal postal service — they’ve also affected the privately owned UPS. In October 2023, Sun City resident Marcus Stineman was arrested for reportedly tampering with and stealing from packages while on the job at a UPS processing facility on Hilton Head. In a disposition this February, Stineman was fined $50 after entering a plea of nolo contendere — meaning he didn’t contest the charges but refused to admit guilt.
Reports of missing USPS deliveries in Beaufort County have continued well into 2024, suggesting the problem runs deeper than one abberant employee. An Office of Inspector General spokesperson said Tuesday that there were no other open investigations into local postal employees, adding that potential victims of mail theft can file a complaint at uspsoig.gov/hotline.
This story was originally published July 9, 2024 at 12:49 PM.
