BATON ROUGE — A Texas man convicted of robbing a mail carrier at gunpoint in 2021 was sentenced to 7½ years in prison Tuesday.

Tarek Sonnier, 26, pleaded guilty to robbing the mail carrier and spraying her with mace on Oct. 6, 2021. The USPS worker was delivering mail near the intersection of North 8th Street and North Street in Spanish Town when Sonnier approached her with a letter.

The mail carrier asked if he was looking to mail the letter and Sonnier said "yes," before holding her at gunpoint and spraying her with mace. He then snatched her keys from her. Sonnier and an accomplice then fled in a silver Camaro.

WBRZ reported that the victim went to a hospital and had to take prescription medication for days to dissolve the remaining mace from her eyes.

The next day, BRPD stopped Sonnier in the Camaro. They conducted a search of the vehicle and found the USPS truck keys, stolen U.S. mail, checks and money orders, as well as bottles of "Wite Out" and "Heet," both commonly used to alter checks. The victim identified Sonnier in a photo lineup as the man who robbed her, court records say.

After Sonnier's 7½ years in prison, he will serve 3 years of probation.