A Salt Lake man has been charged with felony mail theft in Duchesne County. According to the Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office, 51-year-old Russell Curtis Young is facing the second degree felony for allegedly stealing two voided checks from a Duchesne County man’s mailbox in August. The checks were being mailed to a pair of oilfield companies to set up direct deposits. “One month after the mail theft, the victim learned someone using the name Russell Young had attempted to cash one of the stolen checks for $9,010 dollars at a bank in the Sugarhouse area,” shares the Sheriff’s Office. Detective John Crowley wrote in a sworn statement that the check had handwriting over the word VOID in the pay to order of line. The victim’s last name was misspelled on the check’s signature line and there was a fingerprint impression on the check. Crowley was able to obtain a copy of the ID used by the person who tried to cash the check which led the detective to a photo of Russell Young. Crowley used the photo and was able to find Basin residents who recognized him as a “homeless looking individual that was in the Tabiona and Hanna area of Duchesne County, Utah, during the time frame of the mail being stolen.” Young has used many alias identities in the past and in November pleaded guilty in 3rd District Court to forgery and failure to stop at the command of police. There are also multiple other cases in Salt Lake filed against Young in addition to the Duchesne County charge. A $1,000 dollar cash only warrant has been issued for Young’s arrest for the Duchesne County case which is intended to prevent Young from being released from Salt Lake County Jail before his first appearance on the mail theft charge. Alias names also used by Young include Steven Baron, Scott Austin Causey, Melvin Dennis Young, and Stephen Allen Young.
