Man gets three years for holding up Hyde Park, Mattapan letter carriers, one at knifepoint

A federal judge yesterday sentenced a Stoughton man to 36 months in federal prison for robbing letter carriers in two Boston neighborhoods to get their "arrow" keys, which would let him and his accomplice open on-street postal boxes to search for checks and other valuables.

Kenneth Demosthene, 24, pleaded guilty in July to two counts of aiding and abetting the robbery of a postal employee, two counts of aiding and two counts of aiding and abetting the assault of federal employees, the US Attorney's office in Boston reports. His alleged accomplice, Myesha Lewis, of Dorchester, is scheduled to formally plead guilty as well, at a hearing on Oct. 30, according to court records.

According to investigators, the two were part of a wave of robbers that attacked letter carriers in a hunt for mailbox keys in 2022 and 2023.

Demosthene was specifically charged with robbing one letter carriers on Hiawatha Road in Mattapan around 2 p.m. on Nov. 29, 2022 and another at Park and Arlington streets in Hyde Park around 4:50 p.m. on Dec. 16.

According to VICTIM 2, UNK-4 [later IDed as Demosthene] produced a black handled knife with a silver blade approximately 2.5" – 3" long as he approached VICTIM 2 and said, "Give me your fucking Arrow key." VICTIM 2 put his hands in the air and attempted to remove the Arrow key that was secured to his clothing per USPS policy with a brass chain. UNK-3 [possibly Lewis] or UNK-4 pulled on the chain while attempting to cut it with the knife, while UNK-3 yelled at VICTIM 2, "Hurry up."

Prosecutors had asked US District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor to sentence him to 51 months in prison, saying that his lack of a prior record and his guilty plea should be balanced with the fact that he led a lazy, directionless life in which he always sought to take the easy way out and lived beyond his means - and that his crimes had put fear into the hearts of dedicated, hard-working US Postal Service employees. The laws Demosthene admitted violating carried a maximum possible sentence of 30 years.

The Defendant assaulted and robbed federal postal workers solely for his own gain; those workers who feared for their lives and now a profession, which is constantly now looking over their shoulder, fearing the worst. The Defendant took Arrow keys so that it would open doors enabling him and/or others to illegally obtain thousands of dollars to purchase a lifestyle far more lavish than the one the Defendant's historical path of least resistance could possibly provide him – spend more money he wasn't willing to work to earn. The Defendant made the calculated decision, more than once, to put another person's life at risk rather than working to obtain these ends legally. The Defendant should be responsible for choices he has made, to do otherwise minimizes the impact that decision has had on others.

Prosecutors forwarded a letter to the judge from Richard DiSecca, national business agent for the National Association of Letter Carriers, who urged the strongest possible sentence for the attack on hardworking, caring letter carriers.

There has always been a high degree of respect for Letter Carriers, and so we never have had to worry about our safety, except for the occasional threat of an aggressive dog, or in some cases of wild turkey attacks. ...

According to various polls, Letter Carriers are the most-trusted federal employees, in part because we are the eyes and ears of the communities we serve for years or decades, and sometimes help rescue residents from house fires or burning cars, find missing children, attend to an elderly resident who has fallen, or even stop a crime in progress. We do these things not because we are supermen or superwoman, but rather because we deliver six or seven days a week and often are first on the scene-and because we know the neighborhoods and have the trust of residents. Assaults on Letter Carriers such as the ones by Myesha Lewis and Kenneth Demosthene, because of the fear and anxiety they generate, can only reduce the possibility of these vital, even lifesaving, interactions between Carriers and residents.

On behalf of all Letter Carriers, active and retired, I respectfully request that a strong message be sent in the sentencing of Ms. Myesha Lewis and Mr. Kenneth Demosthene. Their actions demonstrated total disregard for the law as well as utter disregard for the lives of these 5 letter carriers. Those who plot to rob or harm a federal employee while brandishing a deadly weapon should have the fear of knowing what consequences could be bestowed upon them if they exhibit the same disregard for life and/or the law. The Letter Carriers of the United States Postal Service should not have to report to a job where they fear what may happen to them at the hands of others each day of their careers while doing their job delivering America's mail.