HOUSTON—Delmus Eugene Scott, Jr., 34, of Humble, Texas, has pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government money, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today. Scott was the former custodian of public effects (COPE), which is the equivalent to a postmaster in the United States.

Scott was employed by a contractor of the U.S. Department of Defense responsible for providing postal services to U.S. military personnel deployed in Kuwait. Scott’s responsibilities included conducting and reporting financial transactions at the Army Post Office (APO) on a daily basis, to include the procurement and sale of U.S. Postal Service money orders. As the COPE, Scott had full autonomy to order blank money orders directly from the U.S. Postal Service distribution center.

Scott’s guilty plea today follows his indictment on July 27, 2011, at which time he was charged with one count of theft of government money resulting from a complaint into large deposits of postal money orders into bank accounts in Humble. Investigation determined Scott stole a total of 565 postal money orders, each valued at $1,000, with $181,000 clearing the Federal Reserve. Agents recovered the remaining $384,000 in postal money orders before they could be negotiated.

Further investigation determined that Scott mechanically imprinted the fraudulent amounts on the postal money orders using a money order imprinter exclusive to the Camp Buehring APO, under his custody and control, misrepresenting that they had been properly paid. Scott later deposited $90,000 in fraudulent postal money orders into his personal bank account and directed an additional $91,000 in fraudulent postal money order deposits to his fiancé’s bank account.

U.S. District Judge Sim Lake, who accepted his guilty plea today, has set sentencing for April 19, 2012, at which time he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment and/or a $250,000 fine.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service with the assistance of the Major Procurement Fraud Unit in Kuwait, Department of Defense, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, and the FBI and is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Tammie Y. Moore.