Breaking News: Former USPS Employees Plead Guilty to Mail Theft and PPP Loan Fraud in Atlanta

March 13, 2026

ATLANTA — Two former U.S. Postal Service employees have pleaded guilty in federal court after authorities uncovered a scheme involving stolen mail and fraudulent pandemic relief loans, federal prosecutors announced.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, Daniqua Clark, 35, of Atlanta, admitted to stealing cash, gift cards, and other valuables from the mail while working as a clerk at the Atlanta Mail Recovery Center, the Postal Service’s official “lost and found” facility for undeliverable mail. Clark also pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining more than $36,000 in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans for a business that never existed.

A second former employee, Deneeka Ferguson, 41, also of Atlanta, pleaded guilty to participating in the mail theft scheme.

Federal prosecutors say Clark and Ferguson worked together between May 2023 and February 2024 to steal items from packages and letters that passed through the Mail Recovery Center. According to court records, the two exchanged text messages discussing which packages to target and how to conceal the theft of items, including U.S. currency.

Authorities said the scheme began unraveling after investigators interviewed Clark on November 19, 2024. During that interview, Clark admitted to stealing items from the mail both independently and with Ferguson’s assistance.

Searches of Clark’s USPS locker and personal vehicle uncovered several stolen items, including gift cards, fragrances, and a pill container bearing the name of an unknown individual, investigators said.

Ferguson later admitted during a February 18, 2025 interview with federal agents that she helped Clark steal mail and accepted stolen items in exchange for assisting in the scheme.

The investigation also revealed that Clark took advantage of pandemic relief programs intended to help struggling businesses. Prosecutors say she applied for and received two PPP loans totaling $36,402 by submitting falsified tax documents for a business that did not exist.

The funds were deposited into the same Atlanta-based bank account where Clark received her USPS salary, according to prosecutors. Instead of using the money for payroll expenses as required by the program, Clark allegedly spent the funds on personal expenses.

U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said the case highlights the consequences of public employees abusing their positions.

“Clark abused the public’s trust by stealing thousands of dollars of items from the mail and obtaining two fraudulent PPP loans for a non-existent business while serving as a federal employee,” Hertzberg said in a statement. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to root out and hold accountable government employees who compromise their integrity and violate the public’s trust for their own personal gain.”

Officials from the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General also emphasized the seriousness of mail theft.

“This guilty plea sends a strong message to any U.S. Postal Service employee who decides to violate the public’s trust in this manner,” said Jonathan Ulrich, Special Agent in Charge of the USPS-OIG. “Our investigators will continue to pursue anyone who steals U.S. Mail and attempts to exploit COVID-19 relief programs.”

Clark pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail theft, one count of mail theft, and two counts of wire fraud. Ferguson pleaded guilty to five counts of obstruction of mail.

Both women are scheduled to be sentenced on June 11, 2026, before U.S. District Judge Steven D. Grimberg.

The case is part of a broader nationwide effort targeting fraud tied to pandemic relief programs. Federal officials say that since the passage of the CARES Act, prosecutors have charged more than 200 defendants in over 130 PPP fraud cases, seizing more than $78 million in illegal proceeds, along with real estate and luxury assets purchased with those funds.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, with prosecution handled by the Fraud Section of the Department of Justice.

Assata Shakur: From Fugitive to Freedom Fighter — Why the Culture Still Celebrates Her

Words by Dennis Byron

Kash Patel, I hear you. You wear the title of FBI Director today, but let’s be real—you weren’t even around when Assata Shakur’s name shook the system. You didn’t live through the era when the government put a bullseye on Black revolutionaries, when “justice” was too often just another word for oppression. I did. I remember it in real time. And I know the difference between a freedom fighter and a terrorist.

If America wants to have a serious conversation about domestic terror, let’s start with Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols blowing up federal buildings. Let’s talk Dylann Roof walking into a Black church and spraying bullets. Let’s talk George Zimmerman stalking Trayvon Martin, David Berkowitz terrorizing New York as the “Son of Sam,” or any number of men whose names will forever be synonymous with true terror. Don’t you dare put Assata Shakur in that same sentence.

A Panther With Purpose

Before the wanted posters and FBI most-wanted lists, Assata was JoAnne Chesimard—a young sister from Queens who stepped into the storm of the civil rights era. She joined the Black Panther Party and later the Black Liberation Army, not because it was trendy, but because it was survival.

She fed hungry kids when the government wouldn’t. She set up health clinics in communities the state ignored. She gave political education to the people so they could understand the systems stacked against them. That’s not terrorism—that’s love for your people in action.

The Case That Never Added Up

Fast-forward to 1973, a New Jersey turnpike, and a deadly shootout. A state trooper lost his life, and Assata was arrested, shot, and thrown into the legal grinder. By 1977, she was convicted, but ask anyone who truly studied the case—there were holes big enough to drive a truck through.

Assata Shakur and her daughter Kakuya in Cuba – photo via healer Ola Ronke

Jury bias. Coerced testimony. A courtroom atmosphere dripping with racism. It wasn’t just a trial—it was a setup. Human rights groups worldwide have said it loud: Assata didn’t get justice, she got railroaded.

So when she broke out of prison in 1979 and later landed in Cuba, it wasn’t about running—it was about surviving. And Cuba called it like it was: political asylum for a political prisoner.

The Voice That Won’t Die

Exile didn’t silence her. In 1987 she dropped Assata: An Autobiography—part testimony, part revolutionary gospel. Decades later, it’s still studied in classrooms, still quoted in movements, still moving people who see themselves in her story.

Hip hop never forgot either. Common immortalized her in “A Song for Assata.” Tupac—her godson—carried her influence in his bloodline. Her name gets invoked because she embodies that fight-back spirit that hip hop at its core represents.

Who’s the Real Terrorist?

The FBI slaps her on its “Most Wanted Terrorists” list, but let’s keep it a buck: the word “terrorist” loses its meaning when it’s used as a weapon against someone who uplifted her community.

Real terror was Oklahoma City. Real terror was Charleston. Real terror was Trayvon’s killer walking free. When we talk terrorism, those are the names that belong in bold print.

Assata Shakur? She’s a survivor. A symbol. A reminder that you can cage the body but not the spirit. And whether America likes it or not, she will be celebrated—not as a villain, but as a revolutionary who refused to bow down.

Because in the culture, we don’t just remember history—we correct it.

During her 1976 trial, Assata Shakur testified that she had raised her hands when state troopers stopped her vehicle, yet she was shot in the shoulder and back. A medical expert confirmed her injuries were consistent with this account. Despite the evidence, an all-white jury convicted her of first-degree murder in 1977. She was sentenced to the Clinton Correctional Institution in New York but escaped in 1979 and was later granted political asylum in Cuba.

About the Author:
Dennis E. Byron is an award-winning investigative journalist, photographer, and Editor-in-Chief of Hip Hop Enquirer Magazine. With over three decades of experience covering hip hop culture, celebrity trials, and social justice issues, Byron has been on the frontlines of some of the most high-profile stories shaping both the entertainment industry and American society. He is also the founder of Byron Media Group, where his work continues to amplify voices often overlooked by mainstream media.

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