Federal Conviction is her Sixth Theft Related Conviction
The former postmaster of Waverly, Iowa, was sentenced on October 26, 2026, to five years of probation and eight months of home confinement.
Merri Ann Burgart, formerly known as Merri Ann Bentley, age 43, from Hazelton, Iowa, received the sentence after a May 13, 2026, guilty plea to one count of wire fraud.
In a plea agreement and at her sentencing hearing, Burgart admitted that she stole over $16,000 from the United States Postal Service (“USPS”) in about 2023. Burgart made false entries in the USPS’s travel mileage system in order to obtain reimbursements for fictitious mileage that she allegedly incurred while delivering mail on rural routes in a personal vehicle. For example, on August 19, 2023, Burgart falsely claimed reimbursement for 727 miles she had allegedly driven on “Route 1” in the Waverly area, which was not true, and as a result she received mileage reimbursement to which she was not entitled. Burgart earned nearly $100,000 a year at the time she was stealing from the USPS.
In her plea agreement, Burgart also admitted that, in 2022, she recruited a former postmaster to set up a funnel bank account to conceal Burgart’s criminal conflict of interest. Between August 2022, and September 2023, Burgart caused the USPS to pay more than $2,500 for lawn mowing services by means of the funnel account and in spite of Burgart’s conflict of interest with the ultimate recipients of the funds.
Burgart has a significant criminal history. Burgart has five prior theft convictions. In 2005, Burgart was working as an in-home hospice worker and repeatedly stole from families while she was providing care to hospice patients in their own homes. In 2025, Burgart was convicted of operating while intoxicated. Law enforcement officers responded to a dispute at a bar, outside of which Burgart was beating on a Jeep. Officers later found Burgart was driving a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content of .121. Burgart received probationary sentences in state court for all six of these prior state court convictions.
Burgart was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. Burgart was sentenced to five years of probation, including eight months of home confinement. She was ordered to make $16,404.86 in restitution to the USPS and fined $4,000.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The core mission of the Fraud Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars. Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Timothy L. Vavricek and investigated by the United States Postal Service, Office of Inspector General.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 25-CR-2060.
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