posted on September 10, 2001 02:38:07 PM
source: AP
Former Mississippi mail carrier gets 13 months in prison for not delivering
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- A former mail carrier was sentenced to 13 months in federal prison for failing to deliver all the mail on his route for about a year and a half.
Prosecutors said Jesse Reynolds kept mail at his home because he wanted to speed up his delivery time and impress his supervisors. Reynolds told investigators he also dropped mail into collection boxes to be delivered by other postal workers.
"I know what I did was wrong," he said before being sentenced Saturday. "All I can say is I'm sorry and I accept whatever judgment you give me."
Reynolds worked as a temporary mail carrier from 1995 to 1998. He conducted the scheme from October 1996 to May 1998.
The nearly 4,300 pieces of mail included a $50,000 cashier's check, packages containing jewelry, utility bills, food stamps and greeting cards.
William Brake, a U.S. Postal inspector, said authorities found 26 feet of mail intended for delivery stacked in Reynolds' former home.
"He was a transitional mail carrier in a part-time position that was of a non-career status," Brake said. "He was trying to impress management because he wanted a full-time job."
Some of the mail was opened, and Reynolds admitted taking about $200 in cash from the mail, said Mike Knapp, Reynolds' lawyer.
Brake said authorities became aware of the scheme last September when Reynolds' landlord told authorities several pieces of mail were left when he moved.
The scheme started "with mail not being delivered on a few blocks one day and a few more blocks another day," Brake said.
posted on September 10, 2001 02:39:54 PM
Is this the black hole where some of our packages and letters are going? How many USPS workers are doing this? Hmmmmmmm. Food for thought.
posted on September 10, 2001 03:49:04 PM
Not to make the situation less serious than it is, but when they say "26 feet of mail" it sounds really dramatic and I'm sure folks think that's huge quantities of mail. But at the office I worked in some routes delivered 40 feet of mail (flats and letters) in ONE day. So 26 feet over 18 months doesn't seem like enough mail to make any difference in his delivery times which is why he suppposedly didn't deliver it.
Believe me, the USPS has plenty of problems you'll never even hear about. Like the postmaster of a Cleveland suburb office who was recently led out of his office in handcuffs because they got him stealing stamps and then reselling them!
posted on September 10, 2001 04:54:45 PMThe nearly 4,300 pieces of mail included a $50,000 cashier's check, packages containing jewelry, utility bills, food stamps and greeting cards.
I'll bet my damn Pez dispensers were in there too! Thank goodness it was only a $2.00 sale.
posted on September 10, 2001 05:31:38 PM
Like most people, I get my fair share of "junk" mail....I DO worry when there is not even one piece of it for two days in a row!....Now I know why...I SHOULD worry...Worrying is good
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posted on September 11, 2001 01:02:05 AM
When my neighbor moved in I was telling her about the place. She seemed amazed that our postal service was so good (and I will say it again - WE HAVE THE BEST). Seems in Chicago where she is from if she wanted her mail she had to go down to the bar where her mail carrier was and ask for it.
She said some apartment complexes would just get the mail dumped in the lobby.
One day when were walking a trail we saw several opened priority boxes and a bunch of record (LP) covers and slipcovers spread out. We took one of the boxes home so we could contact the person in our city they were supposed to be delivered to but I think we forgot or something (wandering minds forget easily) and the box was recycled. All I could think of is some eBay seller is catching heck for not sending out the package!
posted on September 11, 2001 05:31:05 AM
In my town in NC a postal worker was taking his undelivered mail to a neighboring county and dumping it in the woods on the end of a dead end dirt road. He was finally caught and had dumped lots of mail, including lots of first class stuff like bills, checks, etc. I think he went to jail as well. It seems like we are seeing way too much of this lately!
