SAN FRANCISCO, April 15 -- Thirteen cargo handlers at San Francisco International Airport were charged Friday with stealing $200,000 worth of computers, cameras and other goods from mail bound for U.S. soldiers stationed in Japan, authorities said.
The 13 defendants, employees of cargo staffing company Aeroground, were arrested Thursday and Friday and appeared in federal court on charges of stealing and conspiring to steal U.S. mail, the U.S. attorney's office in San Francisco said.
The 13 men, who range in age from 19 to 52, did not enter pleas during their brief court appearance. They handled mail at the airport for an airline contracted by the U.S. military to deliver mail to Okinawa, Japan.
Since November 2003, soldiers based in Okinawa reported more than 570 instances of not receiving mail or getting mail that was missing items, according to the complaint.
Postal Service inspectors, assisted by military investigators, conducted surveillance at an airport-loading facility where they allegedly observed workers hiding items under their clothes and taking them to a nearby parking lot.
If convicted, the cargo handlers could be sentenced to five years in prison and fined $250,000.
