A Portland man, Michael John Peters, 42, has been charged with stealing mail from several condominium and apartment complexes in Northwest and Southwest Portland.
Court documents indicate that between May and September 2025, Peters allegedly used counterfeit or altered postal keys to access mailboxes on at least a dozen occasions. On September 23, 2025, U.S. Postal Inspectors executed a federal search warrant at an apartment in the Pearl District that Peters had rented under a stolen identity. Investigators discovered evidence of identity theft at the residence, including around 300 pieces of U.S. mail not addressed to Peters, false identification documents, stolen identity documents, and counterfeit checks.
Peters appeared for the first time in federal court before a U.S. Magistrate Judge and was ordered detained pending further proceedings.
The case is being investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service with help from the Portland Police Bureau. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon is prosecuting the case.
“A criminal complaint is only an accusation of a crime, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty,” according to authorities.
