Former USPS employee found guilty of stealing over $1.6 million for personal use

March 18th, 2025

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SGT
March 18, 2025

Salty Ginger Talk Newsletter

March 18th, 2025

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CURRENT EVENTS

Former USPS employee found guilty of stealing over $1.6 million for personal use

Our take: 

In today’s world of extremely advanced technology, many scammers have made it increasingly difficult to find and root out fraud, theft, and corruption in our federal payment systems. The man found guilty of stealing over $1.6 million for his own personal use was not nearly that sophisticated.

Hachikosela Muchimba, 44, of Washington, D.C., was found guilty by a federal jury on March 13 on charges of mail theft and bank fraud that "illegally netted him over $1.6 million," U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., and Special Agent in Charge Kathleen Woodson, of the U.S. The Postal Service Office of the Inspector General announced in a news release Friday.

According to court documents, the defendant was an employee of the postal service between December 2020 and March 2023 when "he executed a scheme to steal U.S. Treasury checks and private party checks from the U.S. mail."

"Muchimba then deposited the checks, which he either altered and/or falsely endorsed, into bank accounts under his control," the news release said, adding, "Muchimba altered some of the checks by removing the name of the proper payee on the checks and replacing it with his own name."

Good old-fashioned theft—you have to kind of respect the straightforward nature of the plan in some ways. No matter how you feel, it underscores the need for a group like DOGE to be doing the work they are doing. Anytime people think no one is paying attention, there will be theft, waste, and abuse like this.

COURTESY: FOX NEWS

Jury awards man $50 million after hot tea burns his johnson

Our take: 

Before we get too far into this story, we must tell you we are experiencing a bit of déjà vu. In the late 1980s, a woman was awarded a large jury award for having McDonald's hot coffee burn her groin, private area, and other sensitive body parts. Many made fun of the woman, but after the facts of the case came to light, the jury wasted little time in siding with her and awarding her a multi-million dollar settlement. There is an excellent documentary called “Hot Coffee” about the incident, which showed the facts of the case instead of the slanted media portrayals that littered the country then.

This situation appears to be similar in nature. Michael Garcia, 30, suffered “severe burns, disfigurement, and debilitating nerve damage to his genitals” on Feb. 8, 2020, his lawyers wrote in court documents obtained Monday by USA TODAY.

The jury ruled that Garcia is now owed $50 million to compensate him for his "life-changing, catastrophic" injury, wrote his lawyer Michael Parker on Facebook on Sunday.

Garcia previously turned down an initial $3 million pre-trial offer from Starbucks, his attorneys said. Now he will instead get over $60 million after interest, attorneys fees, and costs are added, his team said in a news release.

Garcia, who was 25 at the time, was working for food delivery service Postmates on Feb. 8, 2020, when he went to a Los Angeles Starbucks drive-thru to pick up three “medicine ball” hot teas, according to another lawyer working the case, Nicholas Rowley of Trial Lawyers for Justice.

The barista working the window did not properly “secure” one of the hot drinks into its drink carrier, according to Rowley. Within 1.4 seconds of Garcia taking the drink tray, the cup fell into his lap and the lid came off the cup. 

He was taken to the emergency room, where doctors ruled that the scalding tea caused third-degree burns to his penis, groin, and inner thighs, his lawyers said. He was hospitalized and had to undergo multiple skin grafts.

Look, this is a rough deal for all parties involved. Starbucks comes across as heartless and unfeeling, and the driver now has an innie instead of an outie for his genitalia. We would gladly give up the $50 million so we still had our junk. No bueno all the way around. I think we will stick to iced tea and coffee going forward to avoid any accidents.

COURTESY: USA TODAY

Second Trump/Putin call scheduled to discuss ceasefire in Ukraine

Our take:

For the majority of his presidency, Joe Biden chose not to speak directly with Vladimir Putin of Russia after Putin invaded Ukraine in February of 2021. We think this is a strategic mistake. Anytime you get the chance to sit down and discuss emotionally charged topics away from the conflicts they lead to, you should take it. Trump sees things this way as well.

Trump told reporters late Sunday on Air Force One that he hoped to have something to announce by Tuesday, when he's scheduled to speak with Putin.

"We'll be talking about land; we'll be talking about power plants; that's a big question. But I think we have a lot of it already discussed, very much, by both sides, Ukraine and Russia," Trump said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Monday that a call between the leaders would take place on Tuesday. It is their second known conversation since Trump took office in January.

Conversations about bringing the war to a close have quickened over the past several weeks as a succession of Western leaders visited Washington, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

In an Oval Office meeting last Thursday with Rutte, Trump said "concepts" of land and Ukraine's entry into NATO were being discussed.

Regardless which side you support, over 1.5 million people have died during this conflict. It’s time to end this thing and bring peace back to this region. Here is hoping they are able to get that done.

COURTESY: USA TODAY

TIP OF THE DAY

Our bodies and minds are connected, so looking after ourselves physically also helps us prevent problems with our mental health (it works the other way around, too).

Moving our bodies – with sport, gardening, dancing, cycling, walking the dog, cleaning or going to the gym, for example – are great ways to improve our mental and physical health.

Exercise releases “feel good” hormones that reduce feelings of stress and anger. It also helps us feel better about our bodies. It can improve our sleep too. If it involves other people, like being part of a team, a class or a group we see regularly, that can also boost our mental health.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Always help someone. You may be the only one that ever does.” - Anonymous

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