It used to be that the federal offense for messing with the USPS was gangbusters serious.
Postmaster General Will H. Hays (Postmaster General 1921-22) issued an order directing that some 50,000 guns and 2 million rounds of ammunition be distributed and also offered a maximum reward of $5,000 for mail robbers — dead or alive.
Postal Inspectors were issued Tommy Guns, and twice loaned them to the USMC for overseas operations (Nicaragua and Shanghai, 1927.)
The severity of punishments for postal crimes also stood out, from attacking a post box to a postman could add 20 or 30 years to a sentence.
Must be the bad water in Flint !
18 U.S. Code § 1708 - Theft or receipt of stolen mail matter generally
Whoever steals, takes, or abstracts, or by fraud or deception obtains, or attempts so to obtain, from or out of any mail, post office, or station thereof, letter box, mail receptacle, or any mail route or other authorized depository for mail matter, or from a letter or mail carrier, any letter, postal card, package, bag, or mail, or abstracts or removes from any such letter, package, bag, or mail, any article or thing contained therein, or secretes, embezzles, or destroys any such letter, postal card, package, bag, or mail, or any article or thing contained therein; or
Whoever steals, takes, or abstracts, or by fraud or deception obtains any letter, postal card, package, bag, or mail, or any article or thing contained therein which has been left for collection upon or adjacent to a collection box or other authorized depository of mail matter; or
Whoever buys, receives, or conceals, or unlawfully has in his possession, any letter, postal card, package, bag, or mail, or any article or thing contained therein, which has been so stolen, taken, embezzled, or abstracted, as herein described, knowing the same to have been stolen, taken, embezzled, or abstracted—
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.