ROLLINGSTONE, Minn. — U.S. Postal detectives staged a sting and claimed to have caught a Rollingstone mail worker red-handed opening a package and stealing prescription pills. Miranda Diane Tesch of St. Charles faces two counts of felony theft of mail. The sting was in November, although she was charged only Thursday through a summons. Here’s what happened: Alerted to theft reports over several months, agents put together a package made to resemble a prescription delivery from a VA hospital. Inside they put a bottle with fake pills and a sensor designed to trigger upon opening. An undercover agent took the package to the Rollingstone post office, where Tesch was working alone. The agent told her that a relative had died. The agent requested the package be returned to the VA hospital. The agent left and waited outside with a fellow agent. The sensor in the decoy package went off. They rushed in. They read Tesch a Garrity warning that advised her she was compelled as a federal employee to answer their questions. At first, they said, Tesch claimed she opened the package to find identifying information because she could not make out what was the label. Eventually, they said, she admitted to opening the pill bottle. Agents found the 28 fake pills in her own prescription bottle, which was in her purse.
Crime scene at Zip 55969. An unassuming and quaint presence on Main Street in Rollingstone. Image: Steve Lunde
Tesch profile
Tesch, age 37, lives in St. Charles in far western Winona County. She commuted 24 miles through Whitewater State Park to work in Rollingstone. According to the complaint, Tesch stated she had previously resigned from a hospice-care facility after being accused of stealing pain medication from a patient.
An undercover officer approached Tesch, who was the only employee working at the post office at the time.
Case profile
Throughout 2025 the Winona County sheriff’s office received reports of mail theft or tampering in Rollingstone. In February one man received packages missing prescription pills. In June there were packages that clearly had been opened. One contained the prescription opioid Tramadol. In August, a woman reported mailing two greeting cards, each with $50 cash, which were delivered with the cash missing.
Winona irregularities
The Winona postmaster, Sherri Genkinger, pleaded guilty in 2019 after several years of reported irregularities. Postal detectives found 1,300 pieces of undelivered mail in a bag of shredded greeting cards in Genkinger’s office. She was sentenced to two years of probation.