Photo Courtesy of Postal Posts
By Michael V. Cusenza
A former U.S. Postal Service employee this week pleaded guilty to dumping approximately 1,000 undelivered letters in a South Ozone Park trash receptacle.
Daniel Darby, 26, on Tuesday in Brooklyn Federal Court copped to a single count of knowingly and willfully delaying the delivery of mail, a misdemeanor.
On Dec. 2, 2015, according to a New York Daily News report, Darby stuffed the parcels in garbage bags he bought at the Stop and Shop supermarket on Cross Bay Boulevard in Howard Beach and later got rid of the bags in South Ozone Park.
Darby claimed he dumped the mail because he was working an unfamiliar route that day and became distressed over the amount of letters.
He faces up to six months in prison and a $5,000 fine when he’s sentenced on June 8.
Matthew Modaferri, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General, told The Forum on Wednesday that the OIG “takes all allegations of mail theft and dumping very seriously, and investigates each case vigorously.”
Modefferi also urged anyone who believes they are a victim of mail theft to call (888) USPSOIG or email HOTLINE@uspsoig.gov.
michael@theforumnewsgroup.com