A former post office employee and his son were sentenced Wednesday in San Diego federal court for stealing more than $5 million in money orders and distributing them to a web of co-conspirators, federal prosecutors said. Dewayne Morris Sr., 65, and Dewayne Morris Jr., 41, both from Inglewood, were sentenced to seven years and 12½ years in prison, respectively, on conspiracy and bank fraud charges. During the trial that ended in January of last year, Morris Jr. was also convicted by a jury of witness tampering. Prosecutors alleged that eight other defendants — some of whom committed their fraud in Oceanside, Encinitas and Vista — were previously sentenced for converting the stolen money orders to cash by depositing them at banks throughout the U.S. Attorneys representing the father and son either declined to comment or could not be immediately reached Wednesday. “These defendants ran a scheme that tricked banks into cashing millions in stolen postal orders to fund their extravagant greed,” U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath said in a news release. Prosecutors said in the indictment that Morris Sr. worked as a supervisor for post offices in Venice, Playa Del Rey and Marina Del Rey between July 2016 and August 2016 and used his position to order 10,000 blank postal money orders. He later serialized the order forms at the Venice Post Office. Related Articles Courts | Should Oceanside cop killer have been tried as an adult? A new hearing could set him free. Courts | Four SDSU fraternity members charged after one of them is set on fire Courts | At 96, San Diegan is longest-serving federal circuit judge ever Courts | As sexual misconduct lawsuit nears trial, Nathan Fletcher’s accuser drops assault, battery claims Courts | Criminal investigation continuing into Carlsbad man allegedly linked to Wisconsin school shooter Morris Jr. then distributed the money orders to the co-defendants — along with fake driver’s licenses — so they could open bank accounts and quickly withdraw cash, the indictment read. Morris Jr. also joined the co-defendants on out-of-state trips to convert the money to cash, proven by airline records presented during the trial. Prosecutors said Morris Jr. deposited more than $2 million in cash into his bank accounts throughout the conspiracy and used the money to purchase luxury cars and extravagant international vacations for himself and his father. Morris Jr. also sent threatening text messages and videos to a witness, attempting to get the witness to deny he had provided the money orders, prosecutors said.