By admin 
A former Placerville U.S. Postal Service employee was sentenced to one year in federal prison after prosecutors said she stole prescription drugs from veterans’ mail and replaced them with over-the-counter medication.
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Carrie Wallace, 48, of Fort Bragg, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd, according to the U.S. Attorney Eric Grant’s office in Sacramento where the case was prosecuted.
Wallace was charged in an information filed March 20 with tampering with a consumer product and mail theft by a postal employee. The information alleged Wallace acted with “reckless disregard” for the risk that another person could be placed in danger of death or bodily injury when she replaced prescription medication with over-the-counter medication.
Officials said she used her position as a postal employee to access and steal packages containing prescription medication and vape products. She intentionally targeted packages sent by the Department of Veterans Affairs because they generally contained narcotic medications.
Wallace cut open the packages, opened bottles containing prescription narcotics and stole the medication, prosecutors said. She replaced the drugs with over-the-counter medication, retaped the packages and returned them to the mail stream for delivery.
In August 2024, prosecutors alleged Wallace replaced prescription medication in a Postal Service package with over-the-counter medication.
Several veterans received and took the tampered medication, putting them at risk of injury. Officials said the victims “experienced extreme pain, increased agitation and anger and other mental health symptoms.”
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Wallace’s attorneys said in a sentencing memorandum that the charged conduct was part of a broader pattern. The defense said Wallace stole pain medication approximately 32 times over five years to manage chronic pain and an opioid addiction. Her attorneys said she did not sell the drugs or steal them for financial gain.
The second charge involved a package in January 2025, when prosecutors alleged Wallace embezzled a parcel entrusted to her as a Postal Service employee. The parcel was addressed to a person identified in the information only as J.W.
Wallace’s attorneys asked the judge to sentence her to five years of probation, including one year of home detention, mental health treatment and an employment or community service requirement. The defense calculated her federal sentencing guideline range at 51 to 63 months in prison and said prosecutors were recommending a sentence at the low end of that range.
The tampering charge carried a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The mail theft charge carried a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
She pleaded guilty to both charges in March.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General and the Department of Veterans Affairs Police. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Moody prosecuted the case.
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