Quad mail thief given jail sentence, will do U. community service

The former United States postal employee who is allegedly responsible for many of the University's mail thefts will be serving an unusually harsh sentence. Gerald Ricca, who was a postal clerk at the 30th Street Post Office, pled guilty to three charges of mail theft and three charges of delaying mail in April. He faced Judge Dalzell in U.S. District Court last Thursday. Ricca will be incarcerated for two months, have three years of supervised release, $5,000 in fines and $300 special assessment fees. The judge also assigned 300 hours of University of Pennsylvania community service to the former clerk. "It is not possible for me to give restitution to the many victims at Penn," Dalzell said. "I feel the service hours are a modest gesture to the Penn community." Dalzell is an University graduate and law school alumnus. In June, he served on the three judge panel during the Communications Decency Act hearing. Dalzell said that he has sentenced a large number of postal employees from 30th Street Station over the past two months. United States Postal Inspector Lou Recchilongo explained that approximately 25 postal employees from the site are arrested for tampering with mail each year. There has been a 95 percent reduction in complaints since Ricca was arrested last February, according to Assistant Director of Services and Residential Living, Nancy McCue. "During the school year, I had to deal with 60 to 70 complaints of rifling or tampering every time I visited Penn," Recchilongo said. "Now when I visit every two weeks, there are only about six or seven problems waiting for me." Dalzell said that the harsh ruling against Ricca is meant to act as a deterrent to other unruly postal workers. Ricca, 55, testified that he has an unblemished record and has worked two jobs throughout most of his career in order to support his family. Several family members and friends of the clerk were present to provide touching descriptions of his character. He was described by several friends as leading the "good basic American life." "I have no idea why I did it," Ricca said. "I know it caused a lot of embarrassment. All I can do is say I'm sorry to the postal service and the University of Pennsylvania." Dalzell felt that part of the problem resulted from the extremely large size of 30th Street Station. He said that a "B-52 could easily fit in the lobby." As a result, the judge feels temptation played a key role in the crime. Ricca was arrested after he removed three letters from the mail stream, two of which were placed there as part of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Service. The letters were addressed to 3700 Spruce Street, the Quadrangle's address, and contained a total of $130. Ricca retired in March after working for the postal Service for 30 years. McCue, who has handled more than 1,400 university mail complaints since 1992, said she was relieved that Ricca plead guilty. "It's gratifying to see the justice system at work," she said. "This solves a very large piece of the troubles we have with mail." According to the U.S. Postal Code, the maximum sentence for each count of mail theft is five years in jail, a $2,000 fine or both. "We were surprised by the sentencing," McCue said. "None of us expected that Ricca would receive time in jail." Recchilongo added that even though the deterrent effect is crucial, Ricca is receiving the just punishment for the crime. "Ricca definitely was not a scapegoat," McCue said.