Man Pleads Guilty to Concealing Stolen USPS Arrow Key

A Fort Worth man pleaded guilty Wednesday to concealing a stolen U.S. Postal Service "Arrow Key," announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.

Willis Bender, 18, was charged via criminal complaint in October 2023 and pleaded guilty Wednesday to receipt or concealment of stolen property of the United States.

In plea papers, Mr. Bender admitted he received and concealed a stolen "Arrow Key," a master key used by the U.S. Postal Service to gather mail deposited in blue collection boxes.

The key - prized by mail thieves - had been stolen from a letter carrier in Everman, Texas on Sept. 20, 2023. The carrier reported that she was robbed at gunpoint by a black man who demanded she hand over her "mailbox key."

In interviews with law enforcement, Mr. Bender gave various accounts of his involvement in the robbery. At first, he claimed he knew nothing about the incident; then he claimed that a man named showed up at his front door, threatened his family, and forced Mr. Bender to accompany him to the robbery. In a subsequent interview, Mr. Bender claimed a man threatened him with a gun and forced him to sit in the back seat of his car during the robbery. In yet another interview, he said a man committed the robbery while he and another individual waited outside in the vehicle.

In his final interview with law enforcement, Mr. Bender claimed that when police arrived in the area, he looked outside and saw the stolen arrow key sitting outside his door. Not wanting to get in trouble for robbery, he took the key and hid it behind the air duct grill in his bedroom alongside his gun, he claimed.

Mr. Bender now faces up to 10 years in federal prison.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Everman Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Levi Thomas is prosecuting the case.