South Bay : STUFF IT

A Long Beach man was charged with six counts of theft after a U.S. Postal Service investigation found that he was allegedly operating an envelope-stuffing scam in San Pedro.

Ronnie Joseph Thompson, 37, promised jobs paying up to $1,000 per week in exchange for a $35 refundable fee, the investigation found. According to Mark Lambert, Los Angeles deputy city attorney, Thompson didn’t make good on his promise and, if convicted, faces up to six months in County Jail on each of the misdemeanor accounts and a possible $1,000 fine.

Thompson was also charged Wednesday with one count of making a false and misleading statement, which carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail or a $2,500 fine. Lambert said the postal service ordered Thompson to stop the business when they discovered that he was operating out of a Long Beach post office box in October. Inspectors reopened the case when they learned through numerous complaints that the business was continuing to operate from San Pedro.

Thompson will be arraigned Sept. 20 in Los Angeles Municipal Court.