On April 11th, 2025, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office began an investigation into potential fraudulent activity being conducted involving a United States Postal Service mail carrier. Investigators spoke with Amanda McPherson, age 38, at her residence on Chipewa St. in Callaway and began inquiring about the activities she was involved in along with her husband, Johnathon McPherson, age 27. Amanda McPherson stated that she worked as a mail carrier delivering mail to various routes in Bay County and she admitted that she had been stealing mail since the summer of 2024.
Amanda McPherson said that she would check mail that was due to be delivered on her route prior to making the deliveries each day and she would target mail containing bank statements, credit cards, financial investments, retirement accounts, and other financial related mail. She said that this mail was then given to Johnathon McPherson and he would use the information inside found inside of the mail to access the mail recipients’ accounts, credit cards, etc., in order to access the funds in each type of account. Once this was able to be done, Johnathon McPherson would then steal the funds from the accounts in order to eventually obtain the funds for personal use. Amanda McPherson was also found to have actively participated with Johnathon in contacting different financial institutions to portray victims on the phone in order to attempt to change or modify the account security features to allow access to the funds in the accounts. Any mail not used in the crimes was described as having been delivered at a later date or thrown away.
Johnathon McPherson’s vehicle was seized and a search warrant was obtained for it. During the search of his vehicle, over $27,000 in cash was found and seized. Also found inside of his vehicle and seized were numerous credit cards that were found to have been obtained in victims’ names without their knowledge.
The mail routes that are primarily believed to have been affected by the actions described are the Youngstown and Bayou George area, along with Southport and Cedar Grove. Investigators have been working with the United States Postal Inspector Service in this investigation to continue to identify any affected areas of the actions of the defendants. Residents in these affected areas who suspect that they may have been a victim of these crimes are urged to check your credit report for any fraudulent activity between August 2024 and April 2025. Areas of interest to check include credit cards being opened without your knowledge/authorization, accounts being accessed and funds being moved/withdrawn without your knowledge/authorization, checks being stolen and forged, or any other financial related issues caused by unauthorized access. Multiple active BCSO investigations have already been linked to these defendants.
Amanda McPherson was charged with ongoing scheme to defraud and multiple counts of criminal possession of personal identification information. Johnathon McPherson was charged with ongoing scheme to defraud and multiple counts of criminal possession of personal identification information. Johnathon McPherson, who is from Jamaica, also has an ICE detainer hold placed due to his immigration status. This investigation is ongoing and further charges are expected.
