(STORY IMAGE:KHQ.COM)
SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. -33-year-old Angus Johnston is now facing 37 different charges and had eight warrants for his arrest when he was taken into custody by Spokane County Sheriff's deputies on May 30th. His warrants included mail theft, identity theft, theft and forgery related crimes. The U.S. Postal Inspector also was seeking Johnston for similar crimes at the time of his arrest.
One of his accomplices is 27-year-old Tyler Smith who according to Johnston introduced him to "Mailboxing" Which as you'd guess is stealing mail from other people's mailboxes.
Once in custody, Johnston told investigators that he thought he "hit the jackpot" in Airway Heights after admitting to stealing over 40 checks from a business's mailbox on Hayford Road in Airway Heights. What did Johnston mean by jackpot? According to documents Johnston is accused of stealing over one million dollars in checks from landmark turf and seed.
During a search of the suspects, apartment deputies hit their own jackpot. They found meth, heroin, oxycodone, stolen mail, stolen checks, fake checks, printers, digital cameras, fake id's and check creating software. Detectives believe Johnston, Smith, and possibly others have been running a massive counterfeiting operation for months and maybe even longer
Johnston is currently being held in the Spokane County jail on a $175,000 bond.