A Twin Cities woman stole more than $74,000 while working for the U.S. Postal Service starting about two months after she filed for bankruptcy, according to court records.
Jaclynn M. Horstmann, 31, of Brooklyn Center, was charged Monday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis with theft of government property in connection with stealing $74,349.80.
Horstmann was charged by information, meaning that she intends to plead guilty to the felony count. A message was left Wednesday with her attorney seeking a response to the allegations.
The complaint said the money was stolen from November 2018 to August 2019, when Horstmann "was no longer employed with the Postal Service," said Greg Godfrey, spokesman for the Postal Service's Office of Inspector General.
The Office of the Inspector General "considers these allegations to be a very serious matter," Godfrey said. "When these types of allegations are made, [the office's] special agents vigorously investigate these matters, as we did in this instance."
Prosecutors have yet to reveal how she allegedly stole the money or what she did with it.
Horstmann filed for bankruptcy in September 2018. The filing listed $53,000 in student loans out of an overall total of $125,000 in debts.
The filing also said she was a clerk in the Burnsville post office and had been with the U.S. Postal Service for three years by that time.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said Wednesday that she has since been fired.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
