Planning is key – but it’s not clear how Gibson planned to use the key without getting caught, since the mail carrier knew it was stolen and what it opens.
A man was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to assaulting two U.S. Postal Service employees during attempted and completed robberies in North Little Rock. George Elliot Gibson III, 28, of Bartlett, Tennessee, also was sentenced to two years of supervised release. Read more below.
Jonathan D. Ross, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, announced Gibson’s sentence, which was handed down by U.S. District Judge D.P. Marshall Jr.
Gibson was indicted by a federal grand jury on Sept. 11, 2024, on seven counts, including two counts of assaulting a U.S. Postal Service employee, attempted robbery of United States property, assaulting and impeding a postal employee and unlawful possession of a postal key.
On March 10, 2026, Gibson pleaded guilty to two counts of assault with intent to rob a U.S. Postal Service employee.
The investigation found that on June 11, 2022, Gibson pulled alongside a mail carrier who was sitting in a Postal Service vehicle while delivering mail in North Little Rock. Gibson demanded that the carrier give him the drop box key, but the carrier refused and drove away.
Gibson later encountered the same carrier on another route and again demanded the key. This time, authorities said, Gibson displayed what appeared to be a firearm at the mail carrier.
Later that day, Gibson approached a second mail carrier who was delivering mail to an apartment complex in North Little Rock. Gibson was holding a black rifle in his right hand and demanded the postal key, according to the investigation.
The second mail carrier initially refused but eventually handed the key to Gibson.
Following the robbery, North Little Rock police conducted a traffic stop and arrested Gibson. Officers found an air rifle on the floorboard of the vehicle that resembled an AR-15-style rifle and was identified as the weapon used during the robbery.
Gibson later admitted that he had possessed what appeared to be a firearm during the first attempted robbery and during the robbery in which he obtained the postal key.
Gibson’s 48-month federal sentence is followed by two years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal prison system.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service with assistance from the North Little Rock Police Department. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Arkansas prosecuted the case.
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