JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Two Jacksonville men are facing a decade in federal prison after being accused of making fake mailbox keys -- that never actually worked.
Former roommates Robert Carroll and Terry Leu pleaded guilty to the charges against them, which were filed after police found some incriminating evidence when the men were evicted from a Jacksonville apartment in 2021.
The mailbox keys, known as “arrow keys,” are used to open locked USPS mailboxes. Thieves are also known to sell them on the black market.
The master keys are used to access mail from different mail receptacles and are made to only fit locks designed by USPS.
Investigators say Carroll told them he learned how to make counterfeit “arrow keys” by watching videos on the internet.
He admitted that they even tried using one of them on a mailbox at a different apartment complex, but the key broke as soon as they put it in the lock.
Investigators say this was all determined in August 2021.
According to court documents, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office called United States Postal inspectors when Carroll and Leu were being evicted from the Crescent Ridge Apartments on Hodges Boulevard.
Investigators said they found 21 fake arrow keys and two USPS locks inside the apartment.
Court documents say the locks had the numbers “248” on them, which indicated they were only used in Duval County and would work in ZIP codes that started with “322.”
Investigators say they also found the keys and tools the men used to make the fake keys in different rooms in their apartment
In December, News4JAX reported about robberies happening to postal workers for mail and arrow keys.
As a way to fight against that, the postal service and local police agencies are installing high-tech electronic locks on some mailboxes and cracking down on mail theft with a new initiative called “Project Safe Delivery.”
Leu pleaded guilty in court in December and Carroll pleaded guilty on Wednesday.
Sentencing dates for the two have not been announced yet.