LEWISTON, N.Y. (WIVB)–A U.S. Postal Service mail carrier admitted to failing to deliver more than 1,300 pieces of mail.
U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy announced that 30-year-old Sean Barrett of Sanborn pleaded guilty before a U.S. Magistrate Judge to delay or destruction of mail.
Barrett was assigned to the Lewiston Post Office and responsible for mail delivery in Lewiston and Youngstown.
He was to deliver 1,314 mail pieces on October 13 of last year, including 502 first-class mailings, two certified mailings, and 794 standard mailings in the Youngstown area.
Kennedy says he instead placed them in a wooded area off Pletcher Road in Youngstown.
Law enforcement officers recovered the mail later that day.
Six days later, on October 19, 14 bundles of banded Western New York Value newspapers, dated between August 29 and October 10, were discovered by USPS agents discarded in a wooded area just west of where the mail pieces were found.
USPS agents interviewed Barrett on October 20, and he admitted to dumping the mail and newspapers instead of delivering them, according to Kennedy’s Office.
The charge carries a max penalty of one year in prison and a $100,00 fine.