Mail carrier and girlfriend charged with stealing and using credit cards from mailboxes; more charges expected along NW Gainesville mail route

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Alexcia Rosa Monee Higgs, 26, of Pembroke Pines, and Samantha Zany-Ezandra Johnson, 34, of Newberry, were arrested yesterday and charged with grand theft and fraudulent use of a credit card. Johnson is a mail carrier in Gainesville.

The arrests arose from a Gainesville Police Department (GPD) investigation of a complaint that a credit card had been requested, never received in the mail, but used four times at various locations. Working from the list of transactions, a GPD detective viewed surveillance video at a Gainesville Walmart that showed Higgs allegedly purchasing over $400 in fireworks with the stolen card. The card was then used to buy gas at a station in Jonesville, less than half a mile from Johnson’s house.

The detective contacted the bank that issued the card, and the bank provided Johnson’s phone number as the number used to activate the card. Johnson reportedly works for the U.S. Postal Service as a mail carrier and was reportedly working on the date when the credit card was due to arrive at the victim’s residence. Her route include’s the victim’s address, which is in the neighborhood behind Parkview Baptist Church, between NW 13th Street and NW 6th Street.

The detective also reportedly viewed surveillance video of Johnson and Higgs using the card to buy over $400 in liquor from Sam’s Club. The fourth purchase was at an ABC Liquors in Orlando, where over $100 in liquor was purchased.

Other cases of fraud are being reviewed, and the report notes that there is probable cause to believe that Johnson is suspected of using her position as a mail carrier to “illegally divert mail and benefit from the fraudulent use of the stolen credit cards.” Additional charges are expected.

While executing a search warrant of Johnson’s residence and vehicle, Higgs was reportedly seen sitting in Johnson’s car. A handgun was located under the seat where Higgs was sitting; Higgs is a convicted felon who cannot legally possess firearms.

Post Miranda, Higgs reportedly said she didn’t know anything about stealing cards from the mail, but she acknowledged that she was the person in the video using the card. She reportedly said Johnson is her girlfriend, she lives in Miami, and she only visits every other month. The arrest report for Higgs notes that “numerous other victims of credit card fraud have been discovered. Many of the charges from their statements show hundreds of charges in the Miami area.”

Johnson has been charged with petit theft, possession of a stolen credit card, and fraudulent use of a credit card. She has no criminal history and is being held on $8,000 bond.

Higgs has been charged with grand theft over $750, possession of a stolen credit card, fraudulent use of a credit card, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. She has four felony convictions and seven misdemeanor convictions and was released in 2019 from a prison term of one year and one month on charges of burglary and grand theft. She is being held on $25,000 bail.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.