Man sentenced for possession of stolen postal money orders

An out-of-state man was sentenced last week in U.S. District Court in Bangor in connection with charges of fraud and possessing stolen postal money orders.

Saverio Mastronardi, 65, with residences in New Hampshire and Florida, was sentenced Thursday to 24 months in prison and three years of supervised release.

The defendant had been arrested in September and held in detention after he had tried to by a fax machine and a cellular telephone at a Bangor electronics store through a cab driver using three postal money orders. An employee noticed that the postal orders had been among those listed by the U.S. Postal Service as being stolen.

An investigation revealed that postal orders had been stolen during a burglary of the Indian Lakes Estates, Fla., Post Office. Several of the postal orders also were cashed in Fayetteville, N.C., according to a court document.

Mastronardi was arrested after a brief pursuit, and his vehicle was found to contain 49 money orders traceable to the burglary.

The defendant was indicted in September. He was arraigned and pleaded guilty in November.