A 25-year-old man is facing federal and state charges after authorities say he bought two specialized keys from a Birmingham postal worker that he used to steal mail from outside drop boxes.

Derrell Allen Matthews, of Birmingham, is accused of buying two “Arrow Keys” for $3,000 each in a deal brokered over Facebook with a woman who worked at the Fairview Heights Station Post Office, according to federal complaint unsealed this week.

Matthews was taken into custody in Shelby County over the weekend, and authorities said he was in possession of 17 pounds of stolen mail.

Federally, Matthews is charged with possession of stolen mail matter and possession of stolen postal key.

Over the past year, postal inspectors in northern Alabama have been investigating a series of mail thefts and postal carrier robberies.

Birmingham, Homewood, Pelham, Hoover, and Vestavia are just a few of the cities that have experienced thefts.

Postal Inspector Montaleto Barber explains in the criminal complaint that in the mail thefts, the suspects have often used stolen or illegally obtained “Arrow Keys” to access U.S. Postal Service blue collection boxes to steal mail.

The keys are unique keys that are used only by the U.S. Postal Service and should never be outside of the possession of postal employees.

“In recent years, these “Arrow Keys” have become targets of fraud groups across the southeast United States because of the unfettered access it allows criminals to have and use to steal large quantities of U.S. Mail,’’ the inspector wrote.

“Our recent investigations have revealed that this initial stage of mail theft is the beginning of a fraud scheme that often involves the negotiation of stolen checks at FDIC insured financial institutions and sometimes involves identity theft in furtherance of those schemes,’’ Barber.

He said multiple mail thefts using the “Arrow Key” have taken place across multiple locations in the Birmingham metro area including the Riverchase Drive post office and the Corporate Drive in Meadowbrook.

The thefts in Hoover began in late August of 2022.

Video surveillance at the post showed a red Dodge Charger was used in the theft. A man was seen getting out of the Charger and using a key to access the back panel of the blue collection boxes, the complaint states.

Multiple pieces of mail were stolen, and the Charger left the area.

More mail thefts took place on Sept. 20, 2022, and Sept. 29, 2022, also in Hoover.

A red Charger was also seen on those surveillance videos, and a suspect shown using an “Arrow Key” to access the rear panel of the collection boxes.

Following the mail theft that occurred on September 29, postal inspectors spoke with Hoover police about cameras that may have been in use near the Hoover post office at the time of the mail theft.

Traffic cameras installed on Galleria Drive near the Hoover Post Office captured an image of the red Dodge Charger, which gave investigator its license plate. That tag was photographed just minutes after the mail theft.

Postal inspectors learned the Charger was registered to Matthews, who they determined lived in northern Birmingham.

They also learned he was not a postal employee and should not have access to an “Arrow Key.”

In October, postal inspectors carried out a federal search warrant on Matthew’s 31st Street North home.

The items seized from the raid included stolen U.S. mail, stolen checks, counterfeit checks, blank check stock, a printer, and a U.S. Postal Service “Arrow Key.”

The serial number on that key matched one that was reported lost by the Fairview Heights Station Post Office on Aug. 10, 2022.

Inspectors also began their probe into how Matthews obtained the “Arrow Key.”

They got a search warrant for his Facebook account – Rackz Out – and found a conversation between Matthews and a woman discussing fraud by using FDIC insured banks.

However, as part of that conversation, authorities said, Matthews and the woman discussed acquiring an “Arrow Key” for Matthews.

Investigators determined the woman was a letter carrier out of the Fairview Heights Station in Birmingham.

On July 23, 2022, the woman, who AL.com is not naming because federal and state court records don’t yet show any charges filed against her, asked Matthews for $6,000 to get him the unique key.

“(She) made statements like ‘it’s worldwide its worth too much plus I’m risking my job,’’’ the inspector wrote in the complaint.

The two ultimately agreed on a price of $3,000.

“The conversation between Matthews and (the mail carrier) coincides with postal inspectors receiving a report from the Fairview Heights Station Post Office about a lost arrow key,’’ Barber wrote in the complaint.

“This also coincides with the timeframe postal inspectors first observed Matthews’ red Dodge Charger at the Hoover collection boxes while individuals were stealing mail.”

On Oct. 24, 2022, just a few days after the search of his residence, Matthews reached out to the woman again on Facebook and several days later, he offered to buy another key from her, again for $3,000.

The woman on Nov. 1, 2022, let Matthews know she was able to get the second key and they agreed on a time and place to meet.

Inspectors said that conversation coincided with another report of a lost “Arrow Key,” as well as the timeframe postal officials started getting complaints from customers of the Meadowbrook post office about mail being stolen from collection boxes.

In November 2022, postal inspectors began getting multiple reports of nail theft from the blue collection boxes at the Meadowbrook location.

“Postal customers were reporting they were depositing their mail into the blue collection boxes; however, the mail was not reaching its intended destination and personal and/or business checks were being altered and deposited into accounts of person(s) unknown to them,’’ Barber wrote.

On Jan. 1, 2023, postal inspectors received a sensor alert that someone was accessing one of the collection boxes at the Meadowbrook Post Office.

Postal inspectors reviewed the surveillance and spotted a red Dodge Charger parked next to the collection boxes and an unidentified individual in a dark colored hoodie next to the red Dodge Charger.

The vehicle, authorities said, matched that of Derrell Matthews’ Charger.

Last week, on April 2, postal inspectors, along with Shelby County sheriff’s deputies conducted surveillance at the Meadowbrook Post Office. At 10:41 p.m. that Sunday, a light-colored sedan stopped at the collection boxes.

Someone exited the left rear passenger door and ran around the front of the vehicle to the blue collection boxes. That person used a key to open a collection box, removed the white postal tub containing the mail, and dumped the mail into the front seat of the sedan.

The person then opened a second blue collection box and dumped that mail into the front seat of the car.

Barber notified other postal inspectors and deputies, providing them with the vehicle’s description and direction.

The law enforcement officers conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle.

Matthews and another Birmingham man, who doesn’t appear to be charged with any crime, were taken into custody.

“Officers were able to see white garbage bags on the front and rear floor of the vehicle that contained large amounts of U.S. mail,’’ according to the complaint.

A search of the vehicle turned up stolen mail, a black mask, and an “Arrow Key” with the same serial number as one reported lost out of the Fairview Heights Station Post Office.

Shelby County deputies charged Matthews with possessing burglar tools. He remains held in the Shelby County Jail on $5,000 bond.

At the time of his arrest in Shelby County, Matthews was already facing charges in Jefferson County of third-degree theft of property, first-degree theft of property and five counts of third-degree possession of a forged instrument.

Matthews was released from the Jefferson County Jail on those charges on March 19, 2022.

Deputy District Attorney Olivia Hill wrote in an April 4 motion to revoke Matthews’ bond that previous bond revocations for him – on Feb. 8 and Feb. 20 – had been denied by a judge, who reinstated his bonds at $75,000.

Less than a month after having his bond reinstated, Matthews was arrested in Shelby County.