Ex-U.S. mail carrier in Torrance, accused of stealing checks and credit cards, pleads guilty

A 31-year-old former mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, accused of stealing checks and debit and credit cards for three years, pleaded guilty on Monday, Aug. 11, to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, federal authorities said.

Mary Ann Magdamit of Carson, who has been in federal custody since July 1, faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison, authorities said. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 27.

Magdamit was based at Torrance’s main post office, and from 2022 until July stole mail containing checks, personal-identifying information, debit and credit cards, said Ciaran McEvoy, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Magdamit would then sell some of the stolen items to her accomplices, who would cash stolen checks by using counterfeit identity documents to dupe banks and credit unions, the spokesman said. Magdamit would also activate some of the bank cards herself, he added.

Magdamit used ill-gotten funds to take international trips — including to Turks and Caicos and to Aruba — and buy luxury items, McEvoy said.

She would also take to Instagram to flaunt the trips, and stacks of cash.

In December 2024, authorities searched Magdamit’s apartment and found 133 stolen credit and debit cards, 16 U.S. Department of Treasury checks, and a loaded Glock-clone without a serial number, otherwise known as a “ghost gun,” McEvoy said. They also found some of the luxury items she purchased with the stolen cards, he added.

A second search of the apartment, on July 1, led to more stolen cards and Magdamit’s arrest, authorities said. She has since agreed to forfeit a luxury watch and other items.

None of her accomplices have been arrested.