Mail thief receives rigorous sentence

Get two months in jail $5,000 in fines The former United States Postal Service employee who claimed responsibility for many of the University's mail thefts will serve two months in jail. 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 Stewart Dalzell in U.S. District Court in July. Ricca will be incarcerated for two months, with three years of supervised release, $5,000 in fines and $300 special assessment fees. The judge also assigned 300 hours of Penn 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 a University graduate and Law School alumnus. He said he has sentenced many postal employees from the 30th Street Post Office over the past two months. Postal Inspector Lou Recchilongo explained that approximately 25 postal employees from the Philadelphia site are arrested for tampering with mail each year. There has been a 95 percent reduction in complaints from the University since Ricca was arrested last February, according to Assistant Director of Services and Residential Living Nancy McCue, who supervises mail to dorms. "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 the harsh ruling against Ricca is meant to act as a deterrent to other unruly postal workers. Ricca, 55, testified that he had 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 said part of the problem resulted from the extremely large size of the 30th Street Post Office. 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. As a result of the investigation, 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 a crucial factor, Ricca is receiving the just punishment for the crime.

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