Lincoln, Neb. — A Kearney man was resentenced in federal court in Lincoln for breaking into the Rockville Post Office about 5 years ago. Rockville is a village in Sherman County in central Nebraska.
26-year-old Tyrelle Smiley was resentenced to 22 months in prison Thursday, with a 3-year term of supervised release, after he completes his sentence.
Two people broke into the U.S. Post Office branch in Rockville on November 17, 2019. When U.S. Postal employees arrived at work the next day, they discovered several items had been taken, including items that were being mailed, U.S. currency belonging to the Post Office, and coils of postal stamps.
Two persons, including Smiley, were found to have been responsible for other burglaries in the area and became suspects in the post office burglary. Smiley admitted to a Postal Inspector that he had entered the post office.
The Postal Inspector searched Smiley’s apartment and found some of the stolen property including a coil of stamps. Further investigation revealed Smiley’s fingerprints on the coil of stamps.
In June of 2023, Smiley was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment. But there was a misunderstanding of when the post office burglary took place relative to other burglaries Smiley had been convicted of in state court. That error was discovered on appeal. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals then remanded the case for resentencing.
Investigation of the case was conducted by the United States Postal Inspection Service.
