爱荷华州Waverly前邮政局长Merri Ann Burgart虚报里程窃取逾1.6万美元：判缓刑5年含8个月居家监禁、赔偿16404美元
美国司法部爱荷华北区联邦检察官办公室（USAO）宣布，爱荷华州 Hazelton 居民、Waverly 前邮政局长 Merri Ann Burgart（曾用名 Merri Ann Bentley，43岁）因虚报里程报销窃取美国邮政（USPS）逾1.6万美元，10月26日在 Cedar Rapids 的联邦法院被判处5年缓刑，其中包括8个月居家监禁，并须向 USPS 赔偿16,404.86美元、另付4,000美元罚款。Burgart 已于2026年5月13日就1项电汇欺诈罪认罪。
Burgart 在认罪协议与量刑听证上承认，约2023年，她在 USPS 的出差里程系统中作假登记，冒领并不存在的乡村路线驾车里程报销。例如2023年8月19日，她虚报在 Waverly 一带「Route 1」驾驶727英里并据此领取报销，而该行程并不存在。作案时她年薪近10万美元。
她还承认，2022年曾招募一名前邮政局长设立一个漏斗银行账户，以隐瞒自身的利益冲突；2022年8月至2023年9月，她通过该账户令 USPS 支付逾2,500美元草坪修剪服务费，最终收款方与她存在利益冲突。检方另指出，Burgart 有较重的犯罪记录，包括5项盗窃前科。
本案由联邦地区法院首席法官 C.J. Williams 宣判，案号25-CR-2060。案件由助理联邦检察官 Timothy L. Vavricek 起诉，美国邮政监察长办公室调查。
Former Waverly, Iowa Postmaster Merri Ann Burgart Sentenced in Wire Fraud Scheme: Five Years' Probation, Eight Months' Home Confinement and $16,404 in Restitution
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Iowa announced that Merri Ann Burgart, formerly known as Merri Ann Bentley, 43, of Hazelton, Iowa, the former postmaster of Waverly, Iowa, was sentenced on October 26, 2026, in federal court in Cedar Rapids to five years of probation, including eight months of home confinement, for stealing more than $16,000 from the United States Postal Service (USPS). She was ordered to pay $16,404.86 in restitution to the USPS and fined $4,000. Burgart received the sentence after a May 13, 2026, guilty plea to one count of wire fraud.
In her plea agreement and at her sentencing hearing, Burgart admitted that in about 2023 she made false entries in the USPS travel mileage system to obtain reimbursements for fictitious mileage she claimed to have incurred while delivering mail on rural routes in a personal vehicle. For example, on August 19, 2023, she falsely claimed reimbursement for 727 miles she said she had driven on 'Route 1' in the Waverly area, which was not true. Burgart earned nearly $100,000 a year at the time she was stealing from the USPS.
Burgart also admitted that in 2022 she recruited a former postmaster to set up a funnel bank account to conceal her criminal conflict of interest. Between August 2022 and September 2023, she caused the USPS to pay more than $2,500 for lawn mowing services through the funnel account, despite her conflict of interest with the ultimate recipients of the funds. Prosecutors noted that Burgart has five prior theft convictions among her criminal history.
Burgart was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams; the case file number is 25-CR-2060. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy L. Vavricek and investigated by the United States Postal Service, Office of Inspector General.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：位于爱荷华州 Cedar Rapids 的美国联邦法院大楼，Burgart 在此被宣判。照片：Farragutful 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The United States Courthouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where Burgart was sentenced. Photo: Farragutful, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
