Ex-Arizona AG lawyer allegedly sold stolen mail, worked while in rehab

Vanessa Hickman, the former Arizona Attorney General’s Office state government division chief who was arrested Nov. 19 by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, is accused of stealing and selling misdelivered mail. Court documents also show that she has a history of alcohol abuse and was in an outpatient substance abuse program while working for Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes.

Hickman faces two felony accusations for controlling and trafficking stolen property. She was placed on administrative leave by Mayes’ office last Thursday after the office was contacted by the U.S. Postal Inspector’s office about an investigation into Hickman. Mayes spokesperson Richie Taylor said the Mayes’ office cooperated with the investigation and that Hickman resigned from her position on Monday. Taylor wrote that “the allegations against Ms. Hickman are serious for any state employee, particularly someone in a leadership position.”

Hickman has not responded to requests for comment from Phoenix New Times. She has since been released, according to Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office’s booking information. The investigation has been submitted to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for a charging decision, USPIS spokesperson Liz Davis wrote, but the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office stated that it has not yet received the submittal on the case.

According to court records, Hickman’s arrest stems from an incident that began when a U.S. Postal Service carrier delivered the wrong package to Hickman’s apartment in late May. Instead of returning it to the correct owner, Hickman allegedly sold some of the package’s contents — namely, a $2,400 diamond bracelet — on the reselling website Poshmark.

The package, which was sent from Florida and contained jewelry worth up to $40,000, was supposed to be delivered to another tenant of Hickman’s in a north Phoenix condominium complex. The intended recipient — Hickman’s neighbor, Joy Gallante — contacted USPIS. Postal inspectors then identified Hickman as the resident of the home where the package was delivered.

Hickman informed investigators that she operates a home-based business on Poshmark, which results in numerous packages being delivered to her home. In July, after being repeatedly contacted by postal inspectors, Hickman told investigators she found the missing package and handed it over to Gallante in the complex’s common area.

However, Gallante noticed that something was amiss. There was excessive tape around the package that wasn’t present when it was shipped. The $2,400 Costco-sourced diamond bracelet was missing from the box, Gallante told inspectors. Upon further investigation, the postal inspectors found that Hickman had allegedly sold a Costco bracelet of the exact same type on her Poshmark page while she was in possession of the package.

On her page, Hickman initially listed the bracelet for $1,947, but the buyer negotiated it down to $750 within a day. In court documents, investigators stated that “this dramatic undervaluing is consistent with the sale of stolen property.” Hickman denied accessing the package and told investigators that the label was missing, which contradicts pre-delivery images of the package on file with USPS.

Alcohol issues

At the same time that Hickman was being investigated by USPIS, she was wading through a messy divorce with her now-second ex-husband. In court documents from that proceeding, she admitted to struggling with alcohol and going into an outpatient treatment program while still working full-time for the Attorney General’s Office.

The same day Hickman was put on leave from the Attorney General’s Office, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joseph Welty dissolved Hickman’s marriage to Joseph Windham, with whom she has two young children. Windham filed for divorce more than one year prior to Hickman’s arrest.

Windham has alleged in the divorce case that Hickman “has a significant drinking problem” and that she has passed drunk out with the kids in the house. He also claimed the pair’s children witnessed her drive drunk with them in the car and pour Fireball into her Starbucks coffee in the mornings. Hickman never specifically addressed those accusations in court documents but did acknowledge that she has struggled with substance abuse.

In December 2023, she said in divorce documents, she was admitted to the hospital for health issues that were likely exacerbated by alcohol use. After her hospital stay, she spent six months in the Scottsdale-based Meadows Outpatient Center’s program for alcohol abuse. She continued to work full-time at the Attorney General’s Office while attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and therapy during that time.

The Attorney General’s Office declined to comment further when asked about Hickman’s substance abuse and treatment.

Maricopa County Superior Court records also show that Hickman was charged in 2003, under her maiden name, with a DUI offense stemming from a 1999 incident. She pleaded guilty to a lesser offense and completed probation in 2005, according to the online case docket.

In her divorce proceedings, Hickman wrote that she had been sober until a October 2024 relapse that prompted Windham to file for divorce. However, she said the couple had already been discussing divorce and separation prior to her relapse. She’s been alcohol-free since then, she claimed in court records.

Hickman and her ex-husband also made claims of alleged domestic abuse in the marriage. However, the divorce court ultimately didn’t find that the claims rose to the level of being considered domestic violence. Joint custody was granted in the case, and Hickman was ordered to pay her ex-husband more than $780 a month in child support.

The divorce case is not the only legal battle Hickman has been fighting. She is currently being sued by the city of Peoria, where she served as city attorney before resigning to join Mayes’ office. The city wants her to repay her severance payment of $138,795, which included half of her annual salary, as well as holiday and sick pay. The city alleges that she wasn’t entitled to the severance she received under her employment agreement because she resigned her position rather than being fired by the city council.

Hickman filed a countersuit claiming that former Peoria Assistant City Manager Rick Buss and other city officials defamed her by claiming to Mayes that she wasn’t entitled to the severance. Mayes previously dismissed the accusation from Peoria as “like a vendetta.” Hickman’s countersuit was dismissed on Jan. 7 of this year.