A Portsmouth man has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for his role in the armed robbery of a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier and for possessing a handgun modified to function as a machinegun.
Cameron Hunter Brown, 29, received the sentence today following convictions for unlawful possession of a machinegun, robbery of property, and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.
According to court documents, the case began on July 11, 2024, when a masked individual approached a USPS mail carrier during a delivery route in Virginia Beach. Prosecutors said the suspect displayed a handgun and demanded the carrier’s arrow key, a master key used by postal employees to access mail collection boxes, parcel lockers, and apartment mailbox systems.
After obtaining the key, the masked individual fled to a waiting vehicle driven by Brown. The two then left the area.
Law enforcement identified the vehicle several days later and located it on July 17, 2024, while it was stopped in the drive-thru lane of a credit union ATM.
According to prosecutors, officers attempted a traffic stop and ordered Brown to shut off the vehicle. Instead, Brown allegedly reversed out of the ATM lane, struck the credit union building, drove through another ATM lane, and fled the scene, prompting a police pursuit.
During the chase, investigators said Brown threw a handgun from the driver’s side window onto a sidewalk. Officers later recovered the firearm and determined it had been equipped with a machinegun conversion device, allowing it to fire automatically with a single trigger pull.
Authorities also discovered the handgun had previously been reported stolen in Chesapeake.
Arrow key robberies have drawn increased attention from federal law enforcement in recent years because the keys can provide access to large numbers of mailboxes and collection points, creating opportunities for mail theft, identity theft, and financial fraud.
The case was prosecuted in federal court, where Brown was sentenced to 14 years in prison for his role in the robbery, the firearm offenses, and the possession of the illegally modified weapon.