Former Ironton postal worker Kim McFann will spend four months under home confinement and serve five years probation after pleading guilty in May to a federal charge of mail fraud.

Friday, August 04, 2000

Former Ironton postal worker Kim McFann will spend four months under home confinement and serve five years probation after pleading guilty in May to a federal charge of mail fraud.

U.S. District Judge Herman J. Weber sentenced Mrs. McFann on July 22 and ordered her to repay two companies about $1,400 for merchandise, assistant U.S. attorney John DiPucio said.

Mrs. McFann had faced a maximum penalty that included prison time and large fines but the judge’s findings showed there were no schemes with credit cards, her defense attorney Richard Wolfson said.

"All the items taken from the mail stream were hers, her husband’s or her husband’s late wife’s," he said. "The people who were on her route have absolutely nothing to fear with the loss of credit cards or credit card numbers."

In November, a federal grand jury named Ms. McFann in a 10-count indictment charging her with mail fraud, credit card fraud and receiving stolen merchandise. The indictment followed an investigation by the U.S. Postal Service and other agencies of her activities from January 1997 to April 1998.

The indictments accused Mrs. McFann of ordering merchandise in other people’s credit card names, then removing the items from the mail stream.

The court ruled that the evidence of that activity introduced by the attorney general’s office was inadmissible, Wolfson said.

"The government tried to place all the other stuff before the court but there was no indication she used (other people’s) credit cards," he said.

The specific charge to which Mrs. McFann pleaded guilty did not involve credit cards, DiPucio said.

The other charges were dismissed and the U.S. attorney’s office recommended the judge sentence Mrs. McFann to four months in prison, DiPucio said.

Home confinement is somewhat restrictive, although it’s not what the government sought, he said.

Wolfson called Mrs. McFann’s appearance in federal court fair and even-handed.

The judge ordered her to pay $1,405 to Franklin Mint and Fingerhut, "to which we pleaded," he said.

"The people of Ironton need to know so they can rest a little more easily," Wolfson added. "Maybe the government had the case confused with the Huntington (W.Va.) schemes of three Marshall students who were accused of misusing credit cards at the time."

Mrs. McFann also has a civil lawsuit pending against the U.S. Postal Service for unfair treatment, which will continue, Wolfson said.