Poplar Bluff postal worker must pay restitution for stolen gift cards

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — A Poplar Bluff postal worker who admitted to stealing gift cards from greeting cards was sentenced to probation Tuesday, May 16, and ordered to pay restitution.

Brittney D. Bulliner, 29, appeared Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. in Cape Girardeau.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Bulliner was caught in a sting stealing Walmart gift cards and a gift card for Kohl's, and admitted stealing and rifling through 17 greeting cards two days before she was confronted.

The investigation began after postal customers in the Poplar Bluff area complained in April 2022 about mail that was missing contents. On Aug. 18, Bulliner was identified as a possible suspect. She was a sales and service distribution clerk at the time.

On Aug. 20, an agent of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General placed a blue envelope containing a greeting card and two $25 Walmart gift cards into mail that was to be worked by Bulliner. The cards, along with a third gift card, were used by Bulliner on Aug. 23 to buy two bicycles at Walmart.

On Sept. 15, the agent placed a blue greeting card containing a Kohl's gift card with no value into mail at the post office in Broseley, Missouri. Agents confronted Bulliner after she opened the card, and she admitted stealing it.

She also admitted stealing and opening 17 greeting cards before taping them shut and returning them. Agents found those cards in the post office the day they confronted Bulliner. The investigation identified at least 45 Postal Service customers who were missing mail taken by Bulliner.

Bulliner, who lives near Poplar Bluff, was indicted by a federal grand jury in October on two counts of theft of mail. She pleaded guilty to both charges in February.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Hahn prosecuted the case.