A Norfolk mail carrier was arrested this week and charged with diverting packages filled with marijuana to a drug dealer in exchange for bribes, according to court documents.
Gary Kent Turner Jr. was charged with one count of bribery of a public official, according to a criminal complaint filed last week in U.S. District Court in Norfolk. The crime carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.
Turner was arrested Monday and released on a personal recognizance bond. His attorney, James Broccoletti, declined to comment on the charges.
Beginning in May 2019, investigators with the United States Postal Service and the Office of the Inspector General noticed numerous suspected drug packages were being sent to addresses on Turner’s delivery route, which includes the Ghent area of Norfolk, according to an affidavit filed by one of the investigators.
Hidden cameras were later installed in Turner’s postal vehicle, and footage from a surveillance camera at an apartment building parking garage at 201 W. 21st St. — the first stop on Turner’s route — also was obtained.