A United States Postal Service worker has been arrested and charged with discarding more than 1,000 pieces of mail, including ballots and political campaign mailers.
Federal authorities on Friday announced that Ottis McCoy, a USPS employee in Orlando, Florida, has been charged with discarding more than 1,000 pieces of mail instead of delivering them along his route on Tuesday.
He was charged with stealing, taking or abstracting mail, a criminal offense punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and a maximum of five years in prison.
According to a criminal complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida on Friday, U.S. Postal Inspection Service inspector Charles Johnsten observed surveillance footage of McCoy “throwing large quantities of U.S. Mail into [a] wooded lot.”
An additional postal worker became suspicious of McCoy when he helped him load up a van with a large quantity of mail, only for him to return much earlier than expected.
Upon examination of a tracking device installed on the van, it was confirmed that McCoy had indeed deviated from his route.
The discarded mail was later discovered in a wooded area of Orlando located not far from McCoy’s route. Footage