Chicago man sentenced to prison for using fake mail keys in apartment burglaries and identity theft

On November 27, 2024By Pranco

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Jonathan Minter | Chicago Police

CHICAGO – A Chicago The man was sentenced to nine years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for his role in a series of burglaries and identity thefts spanning several years.

Jonathan Minter, 38, pleaded guilty Monday to burglary.

The case stems from a series of incidents between September 2023 and February 2024 in which Minter used fake postal keys to illegally access residential mailboxes in blocks of flats and apartments in various parts of the country. Chicago.

Investigators linked Minter to approximately 20 burglaries and identity thefts.

Joint investigation leads to arrests

Minter was first arrested on September 28, 2023, following a joint investigation by the US Postal Inspection Service and the Chicago Police Department. Authorities also arrested Andrew Kirkpatrick, 31, of Champaign, Illinois, identifying both men as suspects in numerous apartment burglaries, mail thefts and subsequent identity thefts in 2022 and 2023.

Minter faced five burglary charges after this arrest in Chicago.

A second arrest followed on October 23, 2023, after Minter was accused of unlawfully entering at least seven homes and stealing items. These incidents occurred at apartment complexes in several neighborhoods, including Peterson Park, Andersonville, Old Norwood Park, Edgewater, Lake View and the South Loop.

Specific burglary dates and locations include:

April 3: 5900 block of North Lincoln Avenue (Peterson Park)
April 9: 5800 block of North Clark Street (Andersonville)
April 15-16: Block 110 of West Ardmore Avenue (Old Norwood Park)
April 16: 5600 block of North Broadway (Edgewater)
April 17: 5700 block of North Winthrop Avenue (Edgewater)
September 7: 3800 block of North Fremont Street (lake view)
September 28: 1800 block of South Michigan Avenue (South Loop)

In this case, Minter faced seven additional burglary charges.

Final arrest and conviction

Minter’s third arrest occurred on February 13, 2024, during another joint investigation involving the US Postal Inspection Service and the Chicago Police Department. He was charged with three felony counts of burglary and four misdemeanor counts of identity theft.

At the time of his arrest in February, Minter was absconding from pretrial release on previous charges and facing more than a dozen arrest warrants for failing to appear in court.

At the time of Minter’s latest arrest, Ruth M. Mendonça, Inspector in Charge of the Chicago Division of the US Postal Inspection Service, released a statement praising the joint efforts of law enforcement agencies:

“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is committed to defending the nation’s postal system from criminal activity, preserving the integrity of the U.S. Mail, and protecting United States Postal Service employees. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service values our law enforcement partners for supporting our mission to protect the integrity of the US Mail.”