Oregon Man Took Out a $20,000 Loan in Someone Else’s Name Using Their Stolen Mail

PORTLAND, Ore. — A Portland man with prior convictions for identity theft and bank fraud in Hawaii and California was sentenced Tuesday, November 10, to 55 months in federal prison for committing the same offenses in Oregon while on probation.

Forty-three-year-old Michael John Peters pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft, possession of stolen mail, possession of counterfeit postal service arrow keys, and bank fraud.

His sentence also includes three years of supervised release, and he was ordered to pay $30,079 in restitution to victims.

According to court documents, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service began investigating a series of mail thefts from apartment and condominium buildings in the Portland metropolitan area in May 2025.

Surveillance Footage Shows Him Stealing Mail

Surveillance footage showed Peters entering secured residential buildings, using counterfeit postal service keys to open cluster mailboxes, and stealing mail.

Investigators found that Peters used information obtained from stolen mail to commit identity theft and bank fraud.

He obtained a $20,000 loan from a financial institution after opening a checking account in a victim’s name. He also submitted additional fraudulent loan applications seeking more than $100,000 from various financial institutions.

On September 22, 2025, U.S. Postal Inspectors executed a federal search warrant at an apartment Peters had rented in a victim’s name.

On arrival, authorities were told by a tenant that Peters had jumped from an upper-floor balcony onto the tenant’s 12th-floor balcony, before running through the apartment and fleeing down a stairwell.

During the search, investigators recovered approximately 393 pieces of stolen mail, 22 identification cards, 15 gift cards, 15 debit and credit cards, counterfeit identification documents, and equipment used to manufacture counterfeit keys and fraudulent identification cards.

Authorities also seized 3D printers, a key-cutting machine, credit card readers, silicone key molds, and other tools used to facilitate the scheme.