Created: 11/26/2009 12:06:03 PM 
Newark, NJ -- Raquel Miller was arrested Monday at the Irvington Post Office and charged with theft, official misconduct and receiving stolen property. A search of her East Orange home uncovered other stolen gift cards and debit cards, said Paul Loriquet, a spokesman for the Essex County Prosecutors office.
The incident marks the fourth time this year that a postal service employee in the county has been charged with a similar type offense, he said.
The investigation by county authorities and the U.S. Postal Service began earlier this month after James Raynor, 43, of Fayettville, NC, called the company that issued the two gift cards -- worth a combined $150 -- and asked why they had not yet been delivered to his nephew in Irvington.
A company representative told Raynor someone had cashed the cards at a supermarket in East Orange. Store surveillance video showed Miller -- while in uniform -- using them to buy cranberry sauce, gravy and other items, Loriquet said.
Raynor, who directs molecular genetics research at Fayetteville State University, told The Star-Ledger of Newark that his cousin needed the money for a bus card and other personal items.
"(I was) disturbed to learn that someone, especially a postal employee, would take something that didn't belong to them," Raynor told the newspaper. "It's very unfortunate if she needed the money to buy a Thanksgiving meal. But what she did is still wrong."
A phone number listed in Miller's name rang unanswered Thursday, and it was unclear whether she had an attorney. If convicted, she could face up to 5 years in prison.
Associated Press
