Chicago man sentenced to prison after surveillance footage shows him breaking into buildings and stealing mail

CHICAGO – AND Chicago A man has been sentenced to seven years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for his involvement in a series of burglaries and identity thefts spanning several years.

Jonathan Minter, 38, pleaded guilty Monday to burglary.

The case relates to a series of incidents between September 2023 and February 2024 in which Minter used forged postal keys to illegally access mailboxes at condominium and apartment buildings around the world. Chicago.

Investigators linked Minter to approximately 20 burglaries and identity thefts.

A joint investigation led to the arrests

Minter was first arrested on September 28, 2023, following a joint investigation by the US Postal Inspection Service and Chicago Police Department. Authorities also arrested Andrew Kirkpatrick, 31, of Champaign, Illinois, identifying both men as suspects in multiple burglaries, mail thefts and subsequent identity thefts in 2022 and 2023.

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After that arrest, Minter faced five burglary charges in Chicago.

The second arrest occurred on October 23, 2023, after Minter was accused of breaking into at least seven homes and stealing items. The incidents occurred at apartment complexes in several neighborhoods, including Peterson Park, Andersonville, Old Norwood Park, Edgewater, Lake View and the South Loop.

Specific dates and locations of the hack include:

• April 3: 5900 block of North Lincoln Avenue (Peterson Park)
• April 9: 5800 block of North Clark Street (Andersonville)
• April 15-16: 110 block of West Ardmore Avenue (Old Norwood Park)
• April 16: 5600 block of North Broadway (Edgewater)
• April 17: 5700 block of North Winthrop Avenue (Edgewater)
• September 7: 3800 block of North Fremont Street (Lake View)
• September 28: 1800 block of South Michigan Avenue (South Loop)

In that case, Minter was charged with seven more counts of burglary.

Final arrest and sentencing

Minter’s third arrest occurred on February 13, 2024, at the Homewood Suites Hotel in River North. during another joint investigation involving the US Postal Inspection Service and the Chicago Police Department. He is charged with three counts of felony burglary and four counts of identity theft.

At the time of his arrest in February, Minter was on parole on previous charges and had more than a dozen warrants for failure to appear in court.

“We are happy to see justice on behalf of the victims. Mr. Minter was recently sentenced to just under 10 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for burglary and identity theft in the Chicago area,” said Spencer Block, Postal Inspector, Office of Public Information.

Mainter will be credited with some time served.

RELATED: City man charged with burglary and identity theft after allegedly stealing mail

Protection of postal workers

The US Postal Service and the Postal Inspection Service have said that combating mail theft and violent crimes against postal workers is a top priority. In response to the rise in these crimes, in May 2023 they launched the Safe Delivery Project.

The initiative takes a comprehensive approach to protecting postal workers and the postal system, focusing on incident prevention through education and awareness, while enforcing laws that protect the nation’s mail flow.

“Since May 2023, when the Safe Delivery project began, we as an agency across the country have apprehended more than 2,000 mail thefts and robberies, which is more than in a year and a half. I can tell you that I’m hearing in Chicago the division, which is geographically the states of Illinois and Wisconsin, and then part of Missouri, in fiscal year 2023, I believe we had over 130 mail robberies in fiscal year 24, and that decreased by about 75%, said Blok.

To learn more about protecting your mail and packages, visit https://www.uspis.gov/.