CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KFVS) – A jury found a former U.S. Postal Service letter carrier guilty of charges accusing him of stealing and failing to deliver customers’ mail.
After a trial lasting less than two days, 33-year-old Robert Gafford of Jackson was found guilty of one count of delaying or destroying mail and one count of embezzlement of mail.
According to a release from the Office of the United States Attorney Eastern District of Missouri, Gafford worked out of the Cape Girardeau Post Office annex at the time and was responsible for delivering mail on a rural route in or near Scott City.
In late 2021, the postmaster received complaints from a couple on Gafford’s delivery route that they were not receiving their mail, including bills and some packages, according to evidence and testimony presented at the trial.
The couple have Informed Delivery, a Postal Service program that provides pictures of the mail that is scheduled to be delivered that day. The couple sent postal officials images of mail that was not delivered. The postmaster had a supervisor check daily for mail addressed to the couple. According to evidence and trial testimony, there were days when their mail was not delivered and officials found it at the post office and days in which the mail could not be located.
When confronted by supervisors and told he must deliver the mail, Gafford said he did not like the location of the victims’ mailbox, according to court records. He was also issued a written warning.