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An Indianapolis man convicted for possessing a machine gun and stealing $1.2 million worth of checks from the mail has been sentenced to nearly 15 years in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois announced Thursday.
Derrick Barbour, 28, was convicted in April 2024 on one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, one count of possession of a machine gun, one count of keys or locks stolen or reproduced, one count of unlawful possession of stolen mail and one count of bank fraud.
“In a unique combination of violent weaponry and financial crimes, this defendant posed a serious threat to public safety,” U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft said in the announcement. “Not only did he illegally possess a machine gun and other firearms as a felon, but he orchestrated a scheme using stolen arrow keys to steal more than $1 million in checks from unsuspecting victims.”
According to court documents, police officers located a stolen vehicle occupied by Barbour at a gas station in Marion County on Feb. 10, 2023. Barbour had a Glock 9mm handgun fully loaded with 50 rounds of ammunition, and it was equipped with a machine-gun conversion device that could make it a fully automatic weapon. Law enforcement also recovered a Glock 17 with a drum magazine, a stolen Glock 20 10mm handgun and several magazines.
Along with the firearms, the Department of Justice said that police found two envelopes containing hundreds of checks stolen from the U.S. Postal Service, and the U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General found two arrow keys, which are used by mail carriers to open blue collection boxes, in Barbour’s vehicle.
According to authorities, Barbour had altered several of the checks to be payable to him, and he had deposited one into his bank account. His sentence requires him to pay $3,203 in restitution to two victims.
In total, the stolen checks and money orders found in Barbour’s possession by postal service inspector general were valued at more than $1.2 million.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Fischer for the Southern District of Illinois prosecuted the case. Barbour has filed a notice of appeal.
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