Holley, Louis Malcolm (1949–)

ACCORDING TO a 2002 General Accounting Office (GAO) report, U.S. Postal Service deposits totaling $65 billion per year are vulnerable to theft, robbery, and mishandling due to factors such as inadequate security and the failure to follow procedures. The official report was prompted by the circumstances of a large-scale postal facility theft in Arizona.

In June 2001, one Phoenix, Arizona, postal facility experienced $3.2 million in such losses when it became the victim of the criminal acts of employee Louis Malcolm Holley. The GAO's examination of the Phoenix facility revealed several security problems, including a key to a cage with stored valuables that was left in the lock, as well as cameras that were not in use.

Holley, age 52 at the time, was a 28-year veteran of the postal service. On June 2, 2001, he promptly disappeared with his loot, which included coin, cash, checks, and money orders. Holley remained at large for over two months, and was finally captured and arrested at a motel in a suburb of Seattle, Washington, on August 17, 2001. Approximately $1.7 million in cash was recovered with Holley's arrest, with the remainder of the stolen deposits presumably destroyed. Holley was convicted of theft of public money, property, and records, and received a prison sentence of three years and five months.

What could have led up to such a massive theft? Several factors were identified in the investigation of this case. For instance, prior to 1997, local post offices regularly deposited their daily payments in the form of coin, cash, and checks with local banks. To save costs, the postal service began moving deposits by armed courier to central locations and then subsequently making deposits at commercial banks. The Phoenix facility where Holley's theft occurred was one such central location. The GAO report also revealed that the manager of the Phoenix facility had ignored security warnings from the Postal Inspection Service.

To prevent thefts like Holley's from occurring in the future, Congressional representatives requested tighter oversight of the postal service. In addition to losses of assets, failure to improve security may result in increased costs to the public, safety concerns for employees, and service disruptions.