A Polk County judge has sentenced a West Salem man to probation for having a fake driver’s license and agreed to drop a mail theft charge, with a prison sentence looming if he violates conditions. Brett T. Regimbal, 49, pleaded guilty on Nov. 12 in Polk County Circuit Court to identity theft, a felony. Prosecutors dropped a charge of possession of mail theft, second-degree forgery and possession of a burglary tool or theft device as part of his plea deal. Regimbal was one of at least four people arrested this year following investigations into major mail theft operations in Salem. Residents for years have shared concerns about their mailboxes being broken into. A SWAT team negotiated with Regimbal for almost seven hours outside his home before arresting him in April. A Salem Police Department affidavit at the time said that officers searched his home and found fake mailbox keys and a fake driver’s license, which showed his face alongside the name of another real person. Polk County Circuit Judge Monte Campbell sentenced Regimbal to three years of supervised probation.  If he violates his conditions, he will be sentenced to around five and a half years in prison. That sentence would include unrelated convictions in October in Marion County for first-degree theft and identity theft, as well as a probation violation in a Polk County case for which he was convicted of fraudulent use of a credit card in 2022. Regimbal’s arrest came as part of an investigation into mail theft and the creation of fake “master keys,” which can open all of the mailboxes in a community unit. “These master keys have been unlawfully copied by taking metal objects and crudely cutting them to the approximate shape of the keys,” according to a Salem police affidavit seeking to search Regimbal’s home before his arrest in April. “One way criminals have identified the shape of these master keys is by breaking out the lock core of the mailbox and then studying the interior of it.” Police said in another report that they learned Regimbal makes such keys in his garage out of metal hinges because they have a “distinct groove” that matches true U.S. Postal Service master keys. They said he sold the keys to other people for $200 to $500 apiece. The search of his home also turned up two money orders, one from the postal service and another from a bank. Both were addressed to Regimbal, and the address on the money orders was a home where police in March arrested Ross B. Sierzega and found mail stolen from over 200 people during a search of his apartment. Officers had a warrant to search Regimbal’s home near Glen Creek Park and Regimbal’s car based on the mail theft accusations as well as an unrelated domestic violence investigation. The Salem police SWAT team responded to search the home and arrest Regimbal “due to firearms concerns” in several previous investigations involving him, the agency said in a statement at the time. Police in searching the house also found small amounts of methamphetamine and a substance they suspected was fentanyl. Regimbal was originally charged as well with domestic strangulation, but that charge was later dismissed because a necessary witness was “unavailable,” according to Polk County court records. RELATED COVERAGE: West Salem man arrested with fake mailbox keys Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053. A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. The post West Salem man accused of making fake mail keys gets probation for identity theft appeared first on Salem Reporter.