09/20/2019—Members of the CBI Investigations and Forensic Services sections were part of the team working together to identify and arrest a robbery suspect who was sentenced to prison for this crime occurring in 2018.
Read the following news release from our partners at the US Attorney’s Office here in Colorado.
Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
District of Colorado
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, September 20, 2019
Gunman Gets 8 Years for Aurora Post Office Robbery
DENVER – United States Attorney Jason R. Dunn announces that Willie Dewayne Phillip was sentenced to 96 months in federal prison for holding two postal clerks at gunpoint and stealing cash from the registers. The defendant was sentenced this week in Denver by United States District Court Judge R. Brooke Jackson. At the conclusion of his prison sentence, Phillip will serve 5 years of supervised release.
According to the plea agreement and facts presented at sentencing, Phillip robbed a Post Office in Aurora on November 8, 2018. While wearing a balaclava and gloves, he pointed a handgun at two postal clerks and then pointed the weapon at a postal customer. Phillip ordered the clerks to lie down and tie their hands together with zip ties. One clerk froze, while the other complied with the order. Phillip then opened the clerks’ registers and emptied more than $5,000 into a bag. He then checked the Post Office safe and fled the scene on foot.
Following the robbery, officers recovered the balaclava and gloves and sent them to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation’s Denver Forensic Science Laboratory for processing. Forensic examination revealed Phillip’s DNA on both items. After a swift investigation by Postal Inspectors, Phillip was indicted on December 4, 2018. He evaded law enforcement for about a month until Postal Inspectors, with the assistance of ATF personnel, tracked Phillip to a residence in Denver, where Phillip barricaded himself inside. Phillip surrendered to officers with the Denver Police Department’s Fugitive Location and Apprehension Group, Metro/SWAT/K9 Section, who had surrounded the home.
“Thanks to the diligent work of our Postal Inspectors and our law enforcement partners, a dangerous criminal is off the street,” said United States Attorney Jason R. Dunn. “My office will work tirelessly to hold violent criminals accountable, especially when they threaten public servants.”
“Anyone who chooses to endanger USPS employees or our customers will bring to bear the full power of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service,” said Bill Hedrick, Inspector in Charge of the Denver Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. “This investigation was a shining example of how Postal Inspectors utilized our strong working relationships with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners to bring a swift resolution to this case. Protection of USPS employees and customers is an integral part of our mission, and we are pleased to see justice was served with today’s sentence,” said Hedrick.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Aurora Police Department, Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Colorado Bureau of Investigation – Denver Forensic Science Laboratory, and the Denver Police Department.
Assistant United States Attorneys Rebecca Weber and Sarah H. Weiss prosecuted this case.
CASE NO. 18-cr-0556