Postal carrier tossed over 200 pieces of mail in dumpster while ‘running late,’ feds say
A U.S. Postal Service employee abandoned his mail route and trashed more than 200 pieces of mail he was meant to deliver in West Virginia, federal prosecutors said.
While working as a postal carrier, the man tossed mail belonging to Putnam County residents in a dumpster behind a Speedway gas station in Winfield on March 27 and April 1, according to his plea agreement.
On both occasions, he threw out the parcels because he “was running late for a personal matter,” prosecutors said. His personal matter wasn’t specified.
The 34-year-old, of St. Albans, appeared in court on Oct. 23 and pleaded guilty to desertion of mail, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia announced in a news release that day.
McClatchy News contacted a federal public defender representing the man for comment and didn’t receive an immediate response.
As part of his plea agreement, he admitted that rather than finishing his route, he drove to the same Speedway gas station in March and April and discarded mail in the dumpster to make sure he arrived at his “personal obligation on-time,” the court filing shows.
Now the man is facing up to one year in federal prison and a $100,000 fine, according to officials.
His sentencing hearing is set for Jan. 29, the release said.
St. Albans is about 10 miles northwest of Charleston, West Virginia.
This story was originally published October 24, 2023 at 7:26 AM with the headline "Postal carrier tossed over 200 pieces of mail in dumpster while ‘running late,’ feds say."
.jpg)