A federal jury convicted a Dorchester man this week for the brutal attack and robbery of a U.S. postal carrier in December 2013. The brazen attack on Bailey Street left the postman with a non-fatal gunshot wound to the arm. Prosecutors proved that Keyon Taylor, 22, was the gunman who shot and pistol-whipped the victim after ambushing him in his truck as he was delivering packages during the pre-Christmas rush.

Taylor, was found guilty of assault on a federal employee, robbery of a U.S. Postal worker, kidnapping, attempted kidnapping, and use of a firearm in a crime of violence. A second man, Maurice Williams Miner-Gittens, 24, pled guilty to robbery and conspiracy, and possession of a firearm in February 2015. Miner-Gittens is due to be sentenced on May 21.

Taylor faces a heft sentence for each of the crimes: just the assault charge on a federal employee carries a 25 year prison term. All told, he will likely get at least thirty years when he is sentenced on June 11.

According to the US Attorney's office, Taylor and Gittens rented a U-Haul van and stalked the letter carrier on his route near Ashmont station. Taylor confronted him in his delivery truck, striking him with his gun and shooting him in the hand and arm while demanding money from the "drawer." There is no cash drawer in a US postal truck, but Taylor— angry— attacked the postman further, beating him in the back of their truck and then taking off with the vehicle. All the while, his accomplice followed behind in the rental.

"The letter carrier jumped out of the moving postal truck through the back cargo door," according to the US Attorney's office. "At the time, Taylor had carjacked the postal truck with the bleeding carrier inside. The victim ran for his life, in long johns and stocking feet. Civilians in the area provided assistance and called the police."

Taylor crashed the truck into a snowbank on Clermont Street and escaped on foot, but left behind blood evidence along the way, some of which was used to convict him, according to U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz. She credited the Boston Police Department's Forensic Crime Laboratory for their "exceptional assistance in analyzing forensic evidence."

Gittens was stopped and arrested in the U-Haul van later that night. Taylor was apprehended after a manhunt in January 2014.