Former Postal Worker Stole 2200 GameFly Games

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Former Postal Worker Stole 2200 GameFly Games


A former employee with the U.S. Postal Service has admitted that he stole 2200 GameFly [http://www.gamefly.com/] games over a six-month stretch in 2008.

Reginald Johnson of Germantown, PA, was a mail-processing clerk who unloaded trucks at the processing and distribution center is Philadelphia, PA. Apparently the center is a bit lax in the ol' oversight department, because for at least six months and probably longer, Johnson was helping himself to a veritable buttload of videogames people had ordered through the GameFly service.

Federal authorities said Johnson swiped 2200 games between April and September 2008, but the Postal Service's Office of the Inspector General actually began receiving complaints about missing GameFly orders in Philadelphia as far back as late 2007. In September 2008 the post office conducted a sting operation using "test mailings" and determined that Johnson was in fact the notorious Gameburglar.

When the obviously elite federal agents on the case tried to arrest Johnson later that day, he somehow managed to elude them in the parking lot and "sped off" in his SUV. His career as a getaway driver was short-lived, however; he crashed the thing soon after and was busted trying to complete his escape on foot. A duffel bag he was carrying at the time contained 81 GameFly mailings, while his vehicle contained a backpack with another 79 GameFly games, along with five Nintendo Wii Sport packages, three Wiis, a PlayStation, various controllers and some GameStop receipts.

Authorities estimated the value of the games stolen by Johnson at $86,000. Sentencing will take place on January 13, at which time he's expected to be given between 12 and 18 months in the slammer.

via: GamePolitics [http://gamepolitics.com/2009/10/16/busted-usps-worker-steals-over-2000-gamefly-games]


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Virgil

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Jun 13, 2002
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I wonder if there will be any fallout on GameStop (either the company or just that branch) for this. Pawn shops are liable for accepting stolen property, and anyone else that is buying 'pre-owned' goods likely falls under the same rules.

Selling back that many games should have raised a flag with somebody over there.
 

Baby Tea

Just Ask Frankie
Sep 18, 2008
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Virgil said:
Selling back that many games should have raised a flag with somebody over there.
You'd think so, but I have a saying that has yet to be proven wrong:
People are stupid.

More on topic: The guy got greedy, and now he's going away for it.
Hopefully the post office will learn to take some better precautions to avoid this kind of thing.
 

Sparrow

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Feb 22, 2009
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Alright, if he got away with stealing a few, wouldn't he just stop there? I mean, his haul sounds pretty impressive anyway,
 

Armored Prayer

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Mar 10, 2009
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Woah.

For a second I thought that guy was from my hometown of Germantown Maryland

Why do those neighboring states share the same name for their town? (Don't answer that)
 

Lvl 64 Klutz

Crowsplosion!
Apr 8, 2008
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At 2200 games, it sounds like nobody from that particular area was getting their GameFly games... how bright does the red flag have to be? Gotta love bureaucratic justice.
 

MiodekPL

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Apr 5, 2009
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Put yourself in his shoes! And remember - always keep your kleptomania under control.

PS If someone smells a meme here - he's right :)
 

Joshimodo

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Sep 13, 2008
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Virgil said:
I wonder if there will be any fallout on GameStop (either the company or just that branch) for this. Pawn shops are liable for accepting stolen property, and anyone else that is buying 'pre-owned' goods likely falls under the same rules.

Selling back that many games should have raised a flag with somebody over there.
It's more likely he sold them off on eBay than to stores.
 

ZeroMachine

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Oct 11, 2008
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Hm... I feel that "PWNED!" is an appropriate reaction here.

That be a lotta games. Does that make him a pirate? I say that makes him a pirate. Did he have an eye patch?
 

321LetsJam

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Aug 9, 2009
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I live in Philadelphia. I don't subscribe to GameFly, though, so I wasn't personally gipped. But for something like this to happen so close to home is pretty bizarre. You'd think 2200 missing games in Philly would have gotten solved long ago. Now the question is, how do they deal with all the shops those games were probably sold to?

Also, to Armored Prayer, the name of Johnson's residence is most likely a misnomer; a search for "Germantown, PA" came up with the names of five towns around the state, and if he worked in the Philadelphia distribution center the Germantown he lived in was most likely the neighborhood in the city.
 

Danpascooch

Zombie Specialist
Apr 16, 2009
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Thats like TWELVE GAMES A DAY!

For keeping it going without getting caught for that long, I vote he be put into the Guinness World Records book for most games stolen one at a time, and recieve a medal, and be off the hook for charges

But that's just how my perverse world works.

EDIT: Wait a minute, he might serve ONLY TWELVE MONTHS! Obviously someone was impressed enough to lighten the sentence (lol) because the theft alone should be like 18 months in prison, not to mention the mother freaking CAR CHASE which should have added at least another 12 months to that!
 

jboking

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Oct 10, 2008
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o_O

I'm almost certain he stole more games than I have played in my entire life. Where is the justice. Also, why wasn't he smart about this and just stole one game at a time(and definitely not stealing any consoles, that's just asking to be caught).