Former postal worker pleads guilty to stealing mail

FOR THE RECORD

PHARR | ROBBERY

Police are searching for two teenage males in connection with an aggravated robbery at 216 E. Expressway 83, authorities said.

A pair of teenagers beat a clerk at Botanica San Lazaro, a hierbería, and stole about $400 from the register about 11:25 a.m. Thursday, said Lt. Guadalupe Salinas, a Pharr police spokesman.

The robbers are described as Hispanic and 15 to 18 years old.

PHARR | ARRAIGNMENT

A 19-year-old faced 11 felony charges Thursday for allegedly kidnapping several illegal immigrants and robbing them, authorities said.

Emilio Castañeda-Tirado is suspected of kidnapping several Salvadoran illegal immigrants from a house in Mission and taking them to a house near the intersection of East Juarez and North Cypress streets in Pharr. The immigrants then overpowered Castañeda-Tirado, took his gun and fled shortly before 9:44 a.m. Thursday, police said.

Police arrested Castañeda-Tirado hours later at 217 E. Bell. He remains at the Hidalgo County Jail on a $1.1 million bond for 11 counts of aggravated kidnapping.

McALLEN | MAIL THEFT

A former postal employee pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing mail from the McAllen main post office.

Harlingen resident Richard Anderson Jr., 58, admitted to stealing gift cards and other valuable items from the mail while working for the U.S. Postal Service, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney's office. His admission came after a four-month investigation into allegations of wrongdoing by the postal service's Office of Inspector General,

While Anderson admitted to stealing numerous items from the post office at the intersection of Pecan and Bicentennial boulevards, he pleaded guilty to only one count, of stealing a gift card a mother sent to her son, according to the news release.

Anderson, who faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, must pay restitution in an undetermined amount for the stolen card. He remains free on bond pending a sentencing hearing tentatively scheduled for early October.

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Monitor reporter Sean Gaffney compiled this report.