FedEx has long prided itself on its commitment to delivering packages swiftly and reliably. However, every so often, a story comes along that makes you question whether there’s something else at play—like the employee who decided to offer his own “package delivery service.” Enter Antwone Tate, who turned an ordinary job into a not-so-ordinary cautionary tale about the dangers of blurring the lines between handling precious cargo and collecting keepsakes.
Antwone Tate was a regular face at the FedEx Memphis Hub, part of the bustling hubbub that sees countless packages fly in and out every day. For Tate, however, there was an unusual allure that certain parcels held—an allure that apparently outweighed the value of his integrity.
On a day that, to any other employee, might have seemed like business as usual, FedEx’s Loss Prevention team noticed that some irreplaceable items were getting lost—permanently—when Tate was around. It turns out, Tate might have taken “shipping and handling” too literally, allegedly diverting packages that were meant to travel far beyond the warehouse into the hands of delighted recipients. Instead, they found themselves at pawn shops and the world’s most ubiquitous online auction website: eBay.
Among the not-so-small list of coveted items that found themselves in Tate’s side-hustle arsenal was an $8,500 diamond ring—perhaps the most sparkly metaphor of all for his less-than-glamorous career shift. As it turns out, this charm was not long for the pawn shop shelves. Then, there were the $14,000 in gold bars, metallic in both their allure and their capacity to melt down—not that Tate got that far. Finally, and tantalizingly for sports history buffs, were the antique baseball cards.
To anyone unfamiliar with the allure of a good vintage baseball card, allow this for context: few things are revered amongst collectors as a near-mint 1915 Cracker Jack Chief Bender or a slice of baseball royalty courtesy of the 1933 Goudey Sport Kings Ty Cobb card. The cards came with an approximate combined value of $6,800—worth more than a fleeting thought for any memorabilia aficionado. Unfortunately for Tate, these treasures were less elusive than he might have hoped. They ended up making an appearance on eBay under a seller account so thinly veiled that it read as an unwitting confession.
The account, charmingly titled antta_57, was a slight reverse to “I’m guilty” if ever there was one, a detail not lost on authorities. The police, luckily not dodging around like a crowd at a comedy show, traced the account to the one, the only, the equivalent of a man stealing home base right back to the dugout—Tate.
In the aftermath, Tate finds himself facing some new challenges, courtesy of law enforcement. He’s charged with the theft of property and, perhaps quaintly, the lesson that a diamond can be a part of one big digital paper trail.
FedEx swiftly distanced themselves from their erstwhile employee, offering a precise but stern corporate statement that reasserted their commitment to ensuring the dignity of the shipping process—not to mention, a practical reminder that “finders keepers” is not outlined in any employee handbook.
As the once-everyday grunt at the hub who tried and failed to pull off a heist of shiny epic proportions navigates the repercussions, a list of charges may no longer be the biggest fear looming over him. Tate now stands as a reminder that behind every missing package is a story—albeit one we rarely wait to see play out in open court.
For FedEx, it’s back to business as usual, shuffling mail and packages across continents, while the rest of us are reminded why it’s always worth keeping a watchful eye on our tracking numbers. And if something goes missing, maybe just maybe, a quick eBay search couldn’t hurt. Just ensure to avoid anything labeled under an account with a suspiciously similar moniker to antta_58.
