Galveston County prosecutors filed 11 charges under a new Texas mail theft law, more than any other Houston-area county surveyed. The tally, first reported by KPRC 2, covers the law's first eight months.
The charges were filed between Sept. 1, 2025, when Senate Bill 1281 took effect, and May 1, 2026. The law strengthened penalties for stealing checks, money orders and other financial instruments from the mail.
In a separate case after that survey period, League City residents saw the issue hit close to home. On Aug. 20, police arrested Richard Ybanez, 46, of Bacliff, on a charge of mail theft of 10 to 30 items, a state jail felony. The League City Police Department's Special Investigations Unit and U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General agents took Ybanez into custody around 3:22 p.m. in the parking lot of a convenience store in the 1600 block of West League City Parkway, according to a city press release. His bond was set at $5,000.
Ybanez, a USPS employee, was the subject of a joint investigation that began about a week before the arrest. The League City Police Department said the investigation remains ongoing.
What the law changed
SB 1281 removed a previous requirement that prosecutors prove mail was taken from another person's mailbox or premises. The law now makes it an offense to intentionally take mail without the addressee's consent with intent to deprive them of it or steal a negotiable instrument.
The law sets escalating felony penalties based on the number of negotiable instruments stolen with intent to commit fraud. Five or fewer instruments can bring a state jail felony. More than five but fewer than 10 can be a third-degree felony. Ten to fewer than 50 can be a second-degree felony. Fifty or more can be a first-degree felony.
Penalties increase by one category when the victim is elderly or disabled.
SB 1281 also created a separate third-degree felony for anyone who obtains, possesses, duplicates, transfers or uses a postal-service key or lock with intent to defraud.
Uneven enforcement across the region
KPRC 2's survey of Houston-area prosecutors' offices found wide gaps in how the law has been applied. Chambers County filed 10 cases. Brazoria County charged eight people, but all those cases were dismissed or otherwise disposed of. Montgomery County filed one case. Fort Bend County filed zero. Harris County said it located no responsive records under the new law's provisions.
Galveston County's 11 charges led the group. The outcomes of those cases are not publicly known.
Heidi Martin, a Richmond-area woman whose $900 money order was allegedly stolen from the mail in October 2025, told KPRC 2 the law alone is not enough. "I'm glad that we have a new law, but unless you enforce it, and part of that law needs to be helping victims," Martin said in the Oct. 4 report.
U.S. Postal Inspector Miguel Arispe of the Houston Division told KPRC 2 in June that federal investigators receive hundreds of complaints weekly.
How to report mail theft
Residents who suspect mail theft can file a report online at mailtheft.uspis.gov or call the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 1-877-876-2455. To report a USPS employee suspected of stealing mail, residents can contact the USPS Office of Inspector General.
