We’ve all had a hard time keeping up at work at some point, maybe you get overwhelmed and things just pile up. But one former U.S. Postal Service worker admitted that he failed to deliver thousands of pieces of mail to residents over at least 14 years.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Edwards’ office says the North Carolina man pleaded guilty this week to one count of unlawfully destroying, detaining, and delaying U.S. mail.
It all started in April 2014, when a postal customer filmed the man hiding several tubs of mail containing 1,500 items behind a dumpster. That person contacted the postmaster.
When postal inspectors asked him about the mail, the worker said he couldn’t keep up with his deliveries because of health problems and pressure from his bosses to complete his rural route by 5 p.m. He said he’d been planning to retrieve the mail and deliver it later. He also told the agents that he had never thrown away any mail or stored it at his residence.
But six weeks later, postal inspectors found a partially collapsed building brimming with undelivered mail on the man’s property. He then agreed to a search inside his house, where officials discovered more tubs of mail, in addition to undelivered items stashed in his car. The undelivered mail included 134 pieces of First-Class mail dating as far back as April 2000.
The USPS had to use a backhoe to remove two dump truck loads of unsalvageable mail, officials said.
He admitted in court Tuesday that for approximately 10 years he had been bringing to his residence the mail that he had not delivered. He’s now facing a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and will be joining his brethren in The Mail Carrier Hall Of Shame:
October 2010: USPS investigates an employee accused of dumping hundreds of pieces of mail into a ditch — while a local filmed the whole thing.
August 2016: USPS worker accused of chucking mail in a pizzeria’s trash bin.
December 2015: Authorities said a Queens mailman dumped more than 1,000 pieces of mail in the trash because he was “overwhelmed” by his heavy holiday mail load.
July 2015: A Philadelphia postal worker was accused of delivering 22,000 pieces of mail straight to his garage.
July 2015: A New York City mailman was accused of stealing more than $1 million in tax refunds in a scheme spanning years.
June 2015: Three Manhattan postal workers were in hot water after being accused of stealing from the “Operation Santa” program like a bunch of Grinches.
December 2014: USPS worker was accused of swiping as many as 2,000 pieces of mail she was supposed to deliver, out of sheer boredom in Detroit.
December 2014: Eight postal workers were accused of stealing packages filled with marijuana in Long Island.
June 2014: A 20-year veteran of the postal system was accused of stealing 20,000 pieces of mail, collecting credit cards, and stacks of DVDs.
April 2014: A mailman in western Kentucky was sentenced to six months in prison for failing to deliver 44,900 pieces of mail, because he wanted to speed up his route.
August 2012: A mail carrier in suburban Chicago pled guilty to pilfering $275,000 in donations that were heading to a charity on his route, after being charged for stealing more than 29,400 pieces of mail in the effort.
May 2012: A 15-year-veteran of the USPS was accused of stealing prescription painkillers mailed to war vets in her area, and then selling those drugs to others on her route.
October 2011: Authorities said a Missouri mail carrier stole 120 Netflix DVDs, which would be a feat now considering the decline in the DVD business. He was also accused of swiping gift cards and other mail that never reached their destination.
January 2006: Colorado police charged two postal workers for plucking Netflix DVDs from the mail, for a total of around 503 discs.
Want more stories from Consumerist? We’re a non-profit! You can get more stories like this in our twice weekly ad-free newsletter! Click here to sign up.
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist