My boyfriends mom got her Thank you card last weekend from a baby shower we went to. When she got the card the top of the envelope was missing where it seals. you could pull the card out and put it back in without even opening anything. Could someone still be doing this? I didn't get mine yet.. We filled the envelopes out ourselves so I know i wasn't accidentally forgotten. It was a big envelope that looked like a birthday/greeting card or such. Makes a person wonder!

It wasn’t a mistake it was a CRIME. My daughter graduated last year, and there was more than one person who called to ask why the check they mailed was never cashed……. Now I know what more than likely happened to them. Thanks Jeff, and my daughter thanks you too. He says he was only doing it for a short time, right. If his family feels bad do not take it out on us take it out on him, Jeff BROKE the LAW. Sure we all make mistakes but mistakes do not land you in prison! CRIME lands you in prison.

As a person who has a(step) son sitting in prison I know it is very hard to deal with public ridicule,but it is a part of the package. When your family member excells and does well you bask in their glory with them,,on the flip side when they do wrong you suffer their humiliation with them,that is life.Take it from me,I have been on both sides of the fence and I'd rather the glory any day,but you accept it all and deal with it.It is not fair,but we all know life is not fair!

He confessed only after he was caught. Would he of confessed of his own free will had it not been pointed out to him that he was caught?

I agree with some, why read if you don't like what is being written? Freedom of Speech!

I have much sympathy for Mr. Bess' family. To quote a character on TV's Law and Order: "No man serves his time alone -- his family serves it with him."

He was not stealing Chrismas cards in July he was stealing Graduation cards. Our daughter graduated last year and out of the cards we got in the mail there was probably only 1 out of 25 that had cash in them. Who is dumb enough to put cash in a card, you can not tell if they received it!
If you sent someone a graduation card and they did not send you a thank you card this could be the reason.I wonder how many checks he burned because he could not resend them after he opened them.
He caused more heart aches and bad feelings then we will ever know. "Everyone sent me a graduation card except Uncle Bill "

His problems are just startng if you ask me. I wonder how many years of seniority he lost,pretty hard to get that back!
I go into the Ishpeming post office almost every week and I never smelled beer on anyone. What do you do get up in the morning and go around smelling peoples breath? You must of been smelling the south wind from Woodys.

He has been stealing for years!!!! It is about time he got caught. I know why there are so many comments on this story, it is because there are a lot of angry people knowing full well what kind of person Jeff Bess truly is. He is a theif and will continue to be a theif even when he is out. He has been thieving for years, 2 months in prison won't teach him a lesson, it is a way of life for some criminal minds. To bad for his family though, love is blind.

Yes, I get it. He was wrong, I am offended by what HE did, as a postal customer I feel violated, and I have little sympathy for him, but I worry about his kids right now. As an adult, I can just not read the comments or respond to them or take them to heart, but kids are a different story. I give up. People want to beat this story into the ground...so nothing can stop that, I guess. I am not offended by any of the comments posted here, I'm just thinking of the kids, that's all.

when a comment offends you, it's crossed the line, but when you offend someone else, or an opinion on your side crosses the proverbial line, it's cool.

leave the freedom of speach in tact and stop complaining.

TV6 don't back down.

It's called 'FREEDOM OF SPEECH".

Time to take this story off of the website.
One of the posters here was my 13 year old daughter, and others were from her friends at school, where Mr. Bess' children attend school. He is paying for his crime...some might think not enough, but justice is not always up to us, sitting at our computers. But the family is getting hurt enough, so can we move on to something else please?
And to CL of Ishpeming...no, it's not the same guy.

I think it's sad that the TV6 comments section has become a gossip column where everybody can hole up anonymously in their living room and act like giggling ninnies. What good does it do anyone to come on here and either 1)spread rumors about other crimes someone may have committed or 2)defend what your family and friends have done? Especially to do it so cowardly as to remain anonymous. I have no particular interest or opinion in this case, it just seems like a prime example of everything that can go wrong with this sort of "comments" business.

I used to be able to come to this website and read the news in peace, but now it seems that almost every story has ten or twenty comments that inevitably deteriorate into unfounded accusations or political name-calling that doesn't get anybody anywhere.

The TV6 Comments section is the ultimate peanut gallery and it makes sense now why the Mining Journal did away with a similar format. We live in a small community and we should all have the guts to put our names to the things we say on here. Freedom of speech comes with some responsibilities.

Is this the same guy who always smells of beer and sometimes works at the Ishpeming post office?

I agree with Mr. Holmgren in this case. He made a terrible mistake and is owning up to his actions. Let him pay his price and go on with his life. All people make mistakes big and small. It takes a bigger person to forgive.

I knew this guy in high school, saw him all the time when I lived in Ishpeming. I could not believe this until reading the story. I thought he was a good guy, although I did not know him that well. But, his actions are reprehensible. Its a shame, he did get off light, I am suprised he didn't have the book thrown at hi,.

He is nothing but a dirty crook. Lock him up

WeeHoo Annie! You go girl...so very well said! :)

Wouldn't the simple solution to family members and/or friends who are hurt by comments on here be to NOT COME ON HERE AND CONTINUE READING??? Common sense no longer exists in society....common solutions to situations such as this one go unconsidered. What occured, the theft of money, opening other's mail, etc., has many victims. Any person who's mail he opened is a victim, any person who's money (in any form) he took is a victim, his co-workers are victims, and society and how it views the Postal Service's staunch regard for sanctity of the mail. Those who's mail he opened or who's mail he took $$$ from are absolutely affected....we should realize too that his co-workers are affected. Affected by the lack of trust, trust they place in one another. When things go missing it's not just one person they look at....they look at anyone who touches these mail pieces and then narrow it down. So, if you are disheartened by that which you read regarding the publics' right to be angry, which is reasonable and should be expected....Don't read.

Umm....Don't you think the people/children he stole from are angry too?

What about the children that were excited about getting a birthday card from their loved ones? Only to realise it was never coming. He took that from them; his punishment is not nearly enough. Everyone falls upon hard times, although most would never take something from someone elses child. This is disturbing. He should of got years......not months. The people that were affected by this are the ones that should be defended, not some jerk.

Finally!!! Finally!! Finally. How many times can someone steal from people and places and never get caught. There is justice in this world!!! Even if it only two months... He got caught. Now all of the other things he has done wrong (Everyone knows what he does) will come to light!!! Sometimes patience is hard to understand but when someone finally gets what he deserves it makes waiting all worth while. Thank you Federal Government you finally caught on!!!

There are alot of cliches out there, some hurtful, some informative. But in reality the general public might not know every aspect of this mans life, however we are getting a glimpse at his criminal ways. And that is what this story is about. CRIME. In some countries criminals are made to walk about the public square with a sign around their neck of their offenses to ridicule and humiliate them. Some countries have prisons that actually make the criminals realize they have done wrong. This man has received a very light sentence for a federal crime. In the eyes of the public he may have been punished differently if left to walk the streets.
It is very natural for children to defend their parents and maybe the children need to realize that in today's society nothing is hidden. What people do is public record. And maybe children will realize that no crime goes unpunished. If children see that crime doesn't pay, maybe they will be less likely to committ a crime. There are people out in the public that are hurtful , especially on these web sites where comments can be made. Nevertheless, if you are reading these comments you need to be prepared for reality, pain, truth, justice, support and opinions. If you can not tolerate these comments, maybe its time you stop reading them.

I hope you people out there know that his family IS reading this, you know.. and im pretty sure they are getting very angry. YOU DONT KNOW HIM!! leave him alone..yeah he did mess up, but he is a Great dad to his children..Im sure you have made a mistake.. his was this..I am his daughters friend, and ive lost my father.. and you think she wants to have to look at this..be nice.... it hurts to see people talking badly about your family, think about it..my heart goes out to his wife and his children..

I'm sorry but I don't understand why anyone needs to blog about someone else? It's foolish. No one knows how it feels to go through something like that unless you are in the situtation. Yes, he may have done something wrong, but it takes a true man to admit it. Shouldn't everyone just keep their comments to themselves and not continue to hurt others they obviously don't care about? I think it's old news and it's really time to move on. Best wishes to the family.

listen; my only concern is that her dad is going to prison and that she is hurting. I am a social worker and am concerned that she is reading the public comments. (which are mostly against her dad-mind you) That is it! I know that she is old enough to read the web sites and hear the news and that sometimes it cannot be stopped, but I am concerned that she is feeling the urge to read these. I feel bad for her...that is it. Concerned for her...not that she is reading a R rated site (we know it isn't). You read me wrong, sorry for that. Melonie, I am on your side. Stay away from the harsh side of this whole thing. A lot of the public is hard, no matter your age...you are still his child/a child. You are a precious. Don't make it harder than it already is. That is my concern. I am a good mom and a good person, sorry if you read me wrong. I mean no harm.

uh 90 days in jail or 60 in federal prison take your pick.....

since when has the TV6 new site become "R" rated. What exactly concerns you about children reading the post on this site. You don't even know how old this person might be anyway. You must be very nieve if you think this young girl is reading anything she hasn't already heard around town. Her point is that none of us (unless you are a judge of a case or the jury) have the right to judge anyone. Not one us can claim to be perfect. He has been sentenced leave him alone.

Postal Thief is a FELONY! He gets 60 days and a $1000 fine.
Vacuum Sex is ALL but an embarrassment! He gets 90 days! He harmed not a person, but the one who got a laugh seeing it.

Does anyone see the wrong in our justice system?

Here's my point to you: I completely agree with people getting a second chance. Forgiveness, after all is what it is about, but because you did not act on this supposed crime at the time, all you are doing is spreading "heresay." There is no point, that I see to come on here and report a specific crime was committed way back when, especially when you didn't think it was worth reporting back then.
I think that we can all sit here and say "if he would have asked for help before committing the crime, he wouldn't be where he's at today. Or would he? I have never been able to prodict the future nor erase the past. I hope that Melanie Bess can keep her head up through all this and know that just because her father made mistakes doesn't mean she will stop loving him.

Yes, you should stand up for your dad, but you do need to realize that your dad did a very bad thing. He is a criminal. He needs to pay for his crime just like a thief does. Every person in jail is a criminal. They put themselves first, and forget about their family and how they will be hurt when they get caught; just like and abuser, a drunk, a murder. I am sorry that you got hurt and are paying for his bad judgement. I hope you have a great mother and a great family support system to help you through this time. Your future depends on it. Do good and love your dad. He loves you and will need a lot of support himself to get better. But don't forget to put yourself first. You did nothing to deserve this. Your dad does need to be punished. By the way, why is your family letting you read this stuff? That concerns me....

The reason I bring up what he did to our dart league is because we wanted to give him a second chance. We didn't want his family or career to suffer...yet he still chose to commit a federal crime that involved stealing money! You can NOT blame us for giving a man a second chance...it is not our fault he blew it.
And to his family, I'm sorry for the what you are all going through, all b/c Mr. Bess decided to make yet another poor choice. Maybe if we did turn him in in the first place it wouldn't have come to this...makes you give a second thought to thinking people can change. There is no excuse for this...even if his family was going through a hard time...aren't we all these days?? Does that give us the right to commit a federal offense? I didn't think so.

Goodness, telling those of us who are appalled by what happened to "Stop!" Not on your life. If your mail had been some of the mail that had things stolen from them, you'd be just as outraged as the people posting regarding it. Let's say for a moment it wasn't your father, your friends' father, a ramdom Postal Employee who did this; trust that you would not be wanting the Feds to go so lightly on the "perp". But, because it's a relative or a friend, and you say this person had a "problem" doesn't negate what this person did to several people. This person had more than one problem, the first being whatever the problem was (self created), and the second was thinking to solve it would simply be as simple as committing Federal crimes. There are impulse control problems with this person as well as inability to make good choices. This makes the person worthy of being put away to keep society safe, hopefully long enough that this person figures out how to make better choices and can return to society without re-victimizing society. So, "Stop!", I won't.

I do believe that this man received a very light sentence, especially considering it is a federal offense. Nevertheless the more I read on these posts, people say an awful lot without putting much thought into the process of communicating.
How is it possible that when a person is arrested we hear of people who will attest that other crimes were committed but we didn't want to say anything at the time? If at that particular time we see someone do something wrong, do we not speak up? Ofcourse there are some people who prefer not to speak up until a said person is behind bars, then its safe to bring up all kinds of gossip. Maybe by bringing to light more offenses to make the person look worse is the gossipers way of relieving their own guilt.
If someone doesn't have the courage to speak up at the time of any wrong doing, do they have the right to speak after a said person is being arrested?
Some of you might notice we have children viewing these postings. So not only does the criminal pay the price, so does their families. It is a shame that when we do something wrong we don't put much thought into the persons we will harm after the fact, but then again we are human, we need to learn from our mistakes. We as parents might want to reinforce with our own children that just because their parents made a mistake, doesn't mean that we need to abandon our friends. The family members are the ones that need support. And we know that children can be very cruel! So I hope that the kids in this family will recieve support from their friends and from their other family members.

to all you people out there leave my father alone, i know he committed a crime but he was doingit because our family was going thru a hard time, and he did whatever he could you act like he killed a man! we all have to suffer enough without him home, please dont make it worse!!

This man did not ‘make a mistake‘, he committed a crime. He thought about it long enough to do it over a period of a month. That’s a premeditated crime. If you do something like this, you ought to be ready to accept the consequences; and that includes public reaction.

Yes, I’ve made many mistakes in my lifetime; but I’ve never committed a crime.

I have a close relative in prison. Yes, I still love him; but he’s exactly where he belongs for what he did. I will not defend his actions to anyone.

For all you saints out there get your info correct before you speak. You don't pay our salaries and we don't raise the price of stamps. This guy just like many of you done something wrong and got punish. How about yall get a life and leave his life alone. He got his punishment and think about your life before you throw the first stone.

We should be less harsh on this criminal because he has a wife, children, and dogs?! This was a federal offense and he only received a slap on the wrist. There are many incarcerated, who have a wife, children, and dogs. It certainly doesn't minimize what they have done, nor does it set a good example for those children. And to stoop so low as to steal money from his dart league or birthday cards, shows that this habitual will stop at nothing. He got off way too lightly.

okay, ya he did something bad, but you know what not everyone is perfect and we all make mistakes and some of them are big and some of them are small and his was big. But everyone makes mistakes, but give the guy a break he has a family and some of you dont know what it is like to have someone in your family to have a problem. But he got caught and he probably feels sooo bad so why dont u all just stop saying what your saying and leave his family alone.

HE is the one who should have thought about his family before deciding to commit a crime and rip off others people's mail. My sympathy to his family; but NOT HIM!!!!

I am his daughters friend and i know he did wrong but he has kids, a wife, and dogss! And we all make mistakes so dont go ripping onn him because we have all done something wrong in our lifes! Get over it and leave him alone he has to pay enough!
I love you erica!
Toniii

when this was 1st talked about last year It was drugs he was stealing. wonder what happen to that charge? and why so long to get to court?

Gee, I thought opening and stealing mail was a federal offense! All he got as punishment was a $1000 fine, 2 months in jail & the loss of his job ?
That's it ? Penalties for employees of the federal government should be double. Do you really think that if I had stolen money out of someone's mailbox, that all I would have got was a couple months in jail & a fine? Highly doubtful. Why did he get off so lightly? It just doesn't seem right! Where is the justice these days?

This sentence is far to light. This is a case of multiple thefts and/or attempted theft; invasion of privacy, interfering with postal delivery.... He should get YEARS!

anyone sending greeting card put them in a manila mailer or even fold into a normal envelope. The greeting card envelope is an invitation to these thieves

I guess thats why little Johnny didn't get his christmass card this year. I'm sure he has been doing this longer than he admits too. The criminal when confesses always trys to minimize the damage.

You know, as much as I'd love to feel bad for him, I have a hard time because when he was president of our dart league, he stole money from our banquet fund...where does it end? He didn't want to be reported because he didn't want to lose his government job. Had we all known he was stealing from work as well, I think our league would've reported him instead of letting it slide that one time. Once a fraud always a fraud I guess...

Look this guy admitted to what he has done, lost his job, and is now paying the price imposed by the court. On top of all this he is getting hammered by all you cyber gangsters!!! Let him pay his dues and get on with his life. I wonder if all you people attacking him live in glass houses??

It is refreshing that this wasn't swept under the rug. To see that crimes like this are found even in an area such as ours if unsettling but at least they are catching them. That he was caught, prosecuted and that it was "public" impresses me; especially in a relatively remote area like ours. I am sure the majority of Postal employees are honest and work hard, hopefully this will give pause to any who are not.

As with all companies that guarantee the sanctity of your product, personal information, etc., there will be "bad seeds". What plagues society so too will plague all aspects of it. To expect that this will never happen, someone opening your letters, cards, etc., when it's been happening since the Post Office began, is akin to believing your Politicians will never lie, extort, etc., I will say that I do not agree with how these people are sentenced, if sentenced, or fined. The sanctity of the mail is paramount in assuring the customer that they can use the USPS with confidence; these cases erode the trust the public places in it's mail system and I believe more time in Prison, higher fines are necessary. What message does it send when the Feds only sentence them, if they sentence them, to a few months and a ridiculously low fine?? Throw the book at em!

This makes you wonder about the "lost mail", things you are expecting but never receive. Let's raise the cost of a stamp, reduce the number of days mail is delivered, add more holidays so these men and women can have more time off, give them a raise, not make them walk through rain or sleet or snow and praise them for the good job they do so they can rip off more from the people that pay their salary!

Sounds to me like the postal worker had to much time on their hand.This how ever is tragic to all the good postal workers out their.Then they wana raise the price of stamps cut a day out of the week So they can go thru your mail i guesse. Lets start a organezation called p.o.w. {postal office watch} Hell we might learn more then we wanna know.

what a stupid way to lose a good paying job. At least he admitted to it and will do some time but I think losing a job like that and having that on your record is more punishment than the jail time

It begs the question"who can you trust these days?"
the answer is obvious. I think this guy got off WAY too easy. What a heartless and greedy thing to do.
I think greed is the only problem our country is facing right now. on all levels