David Zalubowski
Three Houston-area United States Postal Service workers are among five people accused of helping coordinate the theft of nearly $24 million worth of checks from mailboxes.
In court documents, federal prosecutors allege Tryston Tremaine Vaughn recruited three mail carriers — Catherine Clauzelle Kilpatrick, Drakkor Jamar Alexander, and Malcom Tiree Joubert — to steal checks they found in the mail and then sell those checks to Vaughn. Vaughn then allegedly posted the stolen checks for sale on the messaging app Telegram in a channel titled “slipsandchips.” Telegram channels can be used to broadcast messages to large audiences.
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The indictment indicates the operation ran from 2022 to 2024.
Alyssa Nadine Bryant is listed in the indictment as a buyer, though there could be more buyers involved. Arrest warrants were issued Thursday, Aug. 20, for all five people. However, as of Monday afternoon, only Kilpatrick had been arrested. Her initial court appearance was scheduled for Monday afternoon.
The stolen checks varied in worth. One single check stolen was reportedly worth $1.5 million, while others listed in the indictment ranged from nearly $10,000 to almost $80,000. The indictment accuses Vaughn and Bryant of mailing the stolen checks to buyers, but doesn’t indicate if any were successfully cashed.
The federal charges outlined in the indictment carry both a hefty possible prison sentence and a large fine. According to the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School, if convicted, the more serious bank fraud charges carry up to a 30-year prison sentence and up to a million-dollar fine.
RELATED: Some Houston post offices are deficient in mail theft prevention, USPS audit report finds
In April 2025, an audit conducted by the USPS showed a number of deficiencies in some Houston stations’ mail theft prevention efforts.
The 37-page report detailed several mail thefts at the three postal stations around Houston. The report outlined a number of concerns including failures to record required information about lost or misplaced keys to cluster box units. A cluster box unit is an outdoor mailbox system that clusters mailboxes and allows for a central lock for carriers to easily open and deliver packages and mail to multiple residences or businesses at once.
In a response to a number of deficiencies brought to light in the review, the postal service made 11 recommendations to prevent future thefts and issues.
The indictment does not specify how the carriers were able to steal the checks or where they were stolen or if cluster box units specifically were involved.