Woman pleads guilty to stealing mail from Costa Mesa post office where she was a supervisor

A U.S. Postal Service supervisor who worked in Costa Mesa pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to stealing checks worth about $284,000 and other goods worth up to $40,000.

Joivian Tijuana Hayes, 36, of Compton, supervised the Costa Mesa post office when she was accused of stealing mail, according to federal prosecutors.

Hayes pleaded guilty to one count of mail by a postal service employee and one count of unlawful transfer, possession and use of means of identification.

From early last year through December she stole mail from the post office that included checks she deposited into her own bank accounts by forging signatures on the checks, according to her plea agreement.

Hayes stole at least 20 checks worth about $284,000, prosecutors said. She also took about $3,000 in postal money orders, prosecutors said.

Investigators found multiple gold coins and cash that been sent through the mail in her residence, prosecutors said. She stole a dollar bill issued in 1917 bearing a sticky note saying it was worth $675, a $100 bill from 1914 worth about $1,500 and a $10 Confederate bill, prosecutors said.

Authorities also recovered a $5 gold piece bearing a sticky note listing its value at $1,600, prosecutors said.

Agents searching her bedroom found a U.S. Treasury check for $2,599 that was intended to be sent to an address in Costa Mesa, prosecutors said.

The stolen mail’s value was about $304,000 to $324,288, prosecutors said. Hayes was scheduled to be sentenced May 23.