A Great Falls woman who admitted to possessing stolen mail and wire fraud while working as a postal service contract driver was sentenced in federal court on Jan. 25 to three years of probation and ordered to pay $5,641 restitution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Montana.

Jacqueline Rose Hydock, 34, pleaded guilty in August 2023 to possession of stolen mail and wire fraud.

Great Falls woman admits to stealing mail and wire fraud

Prosecutors argued that while Hydock was a postal service contract driver responsible for transporting mail between the Black Eagle and Great Falls post offices, she stole checks and gift cards contained in some of the mail items.

Hydock used stolen gift cards at Great Falls businesses and deposited altered checks into her bank accounts in 2022, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“In letters to the court, one of the victims spent more than five hours and 100 miles of driving to rectify the damage caused after Hydock stole a check he had mailed. Another victim told the court that she is afraid to mail anything of value anymore, and that when her seven-year-old grandson opened his birthday card that no longer had its gift card inside, both were devastated,” according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica A. Betley prosecuted the case. The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, U.S. Postal Service, Cascade County Sheriff’s Office and Great Falls Police Department conducted the investigation

Jenn Rowell

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