MENDOCINO CO., 9/27/2026 — A Fort Bragg woman was given one year in federal prison this week for tampering with mail containing prescription medication and vape products, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.
On Monday, Carrie Wallace pleaded guilty in April to using her position as a U.S. Postal Service employee to gain access to and then steal mail containing prescription meds and vaping products, prosecutors said.
Wallace targeted packages sent by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to its patients because they often contained narcotic medications, according to prosecutors.
Wallace cut into the packages, opened the prescription bottles, stole the medication and then replaced it with over-the-counter pills, retaped the packages and placed them back in the mail stream to be delivered to the intended recipients.
Multiple veteran victims took the tampered medication, putting them at risk of injury for taking incorrectly dispensed drugs. Many of the victims experienced extreme pain, increased agitation, anger, and other mental health symptoms, prosecutors said.