Four Years in Federal Prison for Braintree Man Convicted of Credit Card Theft

A 32-year-old Braintree man who was a contractor for the U.S. Postal Service was sentenced Tuesday for stealing credit cards from a mail-sorting facility while on the job, and then using the credit cards to commit fraud.

Gerald K. Acholonu was sentenced to 51 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns. That will be followed by three years of supervised release, along with forfeiture and restitution of $183,992 to the credit card company.

Acholonu pleaded guilty to credit card fraud and stealing mail earlier this year.

Acholonu worked for a contractor that sorted mail for the Postal Service from August 2010 through May 2011.

"In late April 2011, Acholonu was spotted leaving his employer’s restroom with a tray of U.S. mail," according to a press release from the Office of U.S. Attorney Carmez Ortiz  "Investigators then searched the trash from his residence and found 11 stolen Discover credit cards and evidence that Acholonu was using or planning to use the Discover customers’ identities by setting up telephone accounts in their names."

In total, Acholonu's crimes affected more than 250 victims and between $400,000 and $1 million, according to his plea agreement.