A California man faces felony charges after U.S. Postal Inspectors caught him pulling stolen mail — including unvoted election ballots — from a collection box outside a Scottsdale post office.
Richard Anthony Ramos Jr., 26, of Stockton, California, was arrested July 21 at the Scottsdale Hopi Post Office. He is accused of two counts of third-degree burglary and one count of aggravated identity theft, according to court records filed in Maricopa County.
Investigators say the scheme began as early as May 2026, when the U.S. Postal Inspection Service started receiving reports of stolen checks taken from the blue collection box in front of the Scottsdale Hopi Post Office.
Postal inspectors say the suspect used USPS Priority and Express boxes as "traps," stuffing them inside the collection box to prevent outgoing mail from dropping all the way down. The suspect would then return to retrieve the trap along with the accumulated mail.
On June 30, a postal customer noticed his mail was getting stuck in the box. He peered inside and pulled out cardboard that had been stuffed in to block the mail. He contacted Scottsdale police, who notified postal inspectors according to court paperwork.
In early July, the post office supervisor contacted a Postal Inspector to report that multiple traps had been found inside the collection box. On July 14, inspectors installed a camera and license plate reader at the location.
On July 20, the post office supervisor contacted the Postal Inspector again to report that traps were found inside the collection box when a clerk collected mail at 9:30 a.m., noon, and 3:30 p.m. The clerk told inspectors she felt she was being watched and believed someone was stuffing the box immediately after she emptied it.
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Investigators reviewed camera footage and license plate reader data from between 3 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. that day, according to court paperwork and saw a silver 4-door Infiniti with a California license plate pull up to the box. Arms were visible reaching into the box, and the vehicle remained there for more than 2 minutes.
Paperwork says a search of the license plate revealed the vehicle was registered to Jonathan Valadez of Stockton, California.
On the morning of July 21, postal inspectors set up surveillance at the post office and found a trap inside with outgoing mail hanging out. At approximately 7:12 a.m., a silver Infiniti pulled up to the box and the driver pulled out the trap along with outgoing mail. Inspectors approached the vehicle as it began to leave and identified the driver as Ramos.
Ramos was placed under arrest and told inspectors he was from California and had never been arrested, but declined to answer further questions.
Ramos gave consent to search his vehicle and signed a USPIS consent form, the court records say. Inside, inspectors found USPS Priority boxes, Ramos' cell phone, and U.S. mail — including 3 Maricopa County mail-in election ballots.
Victims whose mail was stolen confirmed they wanted to pursue prosecution. Several victims had mailed checks, including one check for $16,000.
The Maricopa County Recorder's Office confirmed the ballots recovered were not voted ballots, but outbound ballot packets that had not yet been filled out.
"The postal inspectors contacted us regarding the incident and provided us with the unvoted yellow carrier envelopes that were in the mix they seized,” a spokesperson for the County Recorder's Office told ABC15. "The Recorder's Office documented receipt from the postal inspector who brought them directly to MCTEC. The envelopes were not voted ballots but were instead outbound ballot packets. The particular voters were promptly reissued outbound ballot packets.”
Court records note that investigators flagged Ramos as a potential flight risk because he is from California, does not have a job, and was allegedly sleeping in his car at the time of his arrest.
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