TAYLOR (WWJ) -- Two men will each spend seven years in prison after they were convicted on federal charged for robbing mail carriers at gunpoint in Metro Detroit.
During September and October of 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice says 31-year-old Michael Smith-Ellis of Detroit and 33-year-old Terrance Tucker from Phoenix, Arizona, both robbed mail carriers in Taylor and Northville.
The two men were arrested within minutes of an armed robbery in Northville.
Court records show the men demanded the United State Postal Service workers' keys that can be used to open mailboxes.
Guns and several credit cards in other people's name were later seized from the suspects' car, along with a stolen USPS master key.
The sentences, to be served in federal prison, were announced by U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon, Jr. on Monday.
“We all know the commitment of postal carriers to deliver the mail no matter the conditions. And we are committed to protecting them as they do their job,” said Gorgon said, in a media release. “These violent criminals deserve a serious sentence.”
“The safety of postal employees is a top priority for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the federal law enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service,” added Sean McStravick, Acting Inspector in Charge of the Postal Inspection Service’s Detroit Division. “Let this sentence serve as a warning to those who attempt or conspire to harm postal employees for personal gain: we will find you and we will ensure you are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We would also like to thank our local law enforcement partners for their invaluable assistance in this investigation.”