Postal Worker Pinches 3,000 Netflix DVDs, Pleads Guilty to Federal Theft
Postal Worker Pinches 3,000 Netflix DVDs, Pleads Guilty to Federal Theft
Posted 09/23/2009 at 9:00am
| by Paul Lilly
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Perhaps Myles Weathers' biggest mistake was not calling it quits after stealing 2,000 Netflix DVDs instead of 3,012. Or maybe he should have been more careful about removing the DVDs from Netflix mailers in front of surveillance cameras. Then again, the whole idea is dumb to begin with, and we imagine the 49-year-old former postal worker is kicking himself pretty hard right about now.
Weathers, who worked at a mail processing and distribution center in Springfield, Massachusetts, was picked up by authorities last year after Neflix officials fielded a hunch that perhaps thousands of missing DVDs meant something shady was going on. Surveillance footage confirmed the suspicion when it showed Weathers stuffing the stolen DVDs into his backpack, but not before he managed to lift over 3,000 discs valued at more than $30,000.
Weathers pleaded guilty yesterday to federal theft charges and is scheduled to be sentenced December 23, 2009. His felony plea carries a maximum of 5 years in prison, but will likely receive 1 year, The Smoking Gun reports.
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JohnP
September 24, 2009 at 2:31am
He gets one year in jail but the poor lady gets a $1.92 million dollar fine for having her computer sharing stuff that can be bought for 99 cents. Now if he had COPIED the movies...
catoichi
September 23, 2009 at 4:59pm
wow, what an asshat, as a postal carrier, you have to be a total retard to steal stuff. throwing away a $26 an hour job for a bunch of netflix. Especially since he's 49, he has to have 20 years in service just to have thrown it away for a couple of bucks of stuff... makes me wonder about some ppl's intelligence.
punditguy
September 23, 2009 at 4:21pm
@roleki: Upload, not download. Nobody got in trouble for downloading music.
___________________________________________
Preferred boot, but will give this Maximum PC thing a try.
roleki
September 23, 2009 at 10:29am
The lesson here is: if you commit 3000 individual acts of larceny wherein you misapprehend 30,000.00 worth of private property from the mail system, you're still better off than you would be if you were caught downloading 24 shitty songs.
Wow.
Wildebeast
September 23, 2009 at 10:25am
Is it the USPS, or Netflix that has radically changed their logo --and I missed it? Or ---is this the special uniform they wear, when delivering (*gasp*) Porn??
Too bad he didn't try to copy, share, or distribute them... then the Motion Pictures version of the MPAA could sue him, and get a cash award more or less in the amount of the Gross Domestic Product.
1-5 seems pretty good, by comparison, even for a Federal Grand Theft charge. He's also lost a fairly decent job, any pension & benefits he was earning.
BaggerX
September 23, 2009 at 11:56am
He'll have a tough time finding a new job when he gets out too. This is why it pays to think big and steal money in a white-collar job. Sure, you might get caught, but it's less likely and the penalties are about the same. Not to mention that as a CEO or banker, you can probably still get a job again after a conviction. Hell, if you did it and didn't get caught, you can basically put it on your resume. That stuff facilitates huge bonuses for all involved!
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