A Baldwin Park man pleaded guilty this week to robbing two U.S. Postal Service mail carriers, using stolen keys to enter apartment complexes to steal mail.
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Ruben Baca Lopez, 34, pleaded guilty on Wednesday, Sept. 16 in Los Angeles federal court to two counts of robbery of mail, money, or other property of the United States by use of a dangerous weapon, and one count of being a felon in possession of ammunition.
Baca Lopez will face up to 25 years behind bars on each robbery count and up to 15 years on the ammunition count at sentencing on Dec. 16, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Baca Lopez approached a victim sitting in the driver’s seat of his U.S. Postal Service mail delivery truck in April 2024 in front of a residence in Baldwin Park, his plea agreement acknowledges. Baca Lopez instructed the victim to “give him everything,” and lifted his shirt to reveal a gun in his waistband.
Baca Lopez took a smartphone, the keys to the vehicle, a Postal Service key, and keys to access apartment complexes in the area.
In the following weeks, Baca Lopez used the keys to access mailboxes and steal mail in the Baldwin Park area, prosecutors said.
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In May 2024, Baca Lopez robbed a second letter carrier as the victim was placing mail inside a mailbox at an apartment complex.
Two weeks later, Baca Lopez assaulted two U.S. Postal Inspection Service inspectors who were arresting him. He refused to comply with their verbal commands, authorities said, assaulted both inspectors and injured one.
Baca Lopez possessed ammunition that was loaded inside of the chamber and magazine of a “ghost gun” — a privately manufactured firearm lacking a serial number — that he carried.
Baca Lopez is legally barred from possessing ammunition because his criminal history includes felony convictions, including in April 2020 in Los Angeles Superior Court for domestic violence and false imprisonment, and another assault-related conviction in November 2021.
Baca Lopez also was convicted of a misdemeanor domestic-violence charge in Los Angeles Superior Court in February 2016, federal prosecutors said.
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