LOS ANGELES—A transient who lived in various locations in the San Fernando Valley has been sentenced to 135 months in federal prison for a two-week crime spree in which he robbed five U.S. Postal Service (USPS) employees—and fired a handgun so close to one victim that it caused him to suffer a ruptured eardrum, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday.
Elvyn Antonio Rodriguez, 22, a Nicaraguan national illegally residing in the United States, was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee, who also ordered him to pay $2,825 in restitution to the USPS and two mail carriers.
Rodriguez pleaded guilty in March in downtown Los Angeles to three counts of robbery of mail and property of the United States and one count of aggravated identity theft.
In April and May of last year, Rodriguez robbed five USPS employees in Encino, North Hills, Van Nuys, and West Los Angeles, pointing a firearm at them and stealing their personal belongings, including their cell phones, credit cards, and the keys to their USPS trucks. Rodriguez then used the victims’ credit cards at retailers, where he purchased various items including clothing, BB guns, a watch, a glass pipe, and gasoline.
Rodriguez, who has been in federal custody since May 2021, caused USPS a loss of at least $1,805, one victim a loss of $60, and another victim a loss of $960, according to the DOJ.
Rodriguez’s victims remain “traumatized and forever impacted” by the crimes, prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum.
