A USPS operative was arrested trying to cross the United States-Canada border with over 800 pieces of stolen mail inside his car trunk, including multiple absentee ballots.
The Buffalo, New York mailman was stopped attempting to cross the United States-Canada border. Upon a search of his car, it was discovered that he had a trunk full of hundreds of envelopes and undelivered mail. The USPS operative told law enforcement that he ended up on the bridge by accident, according to the Buffalo News.
Brandon Wilson, 27, was caught by Customs and Border Protection with a large bin of mail spanning several zip codes. According to a criminal complaint filed in federal court, three absentee ballots from the Erie County Board of Elections were found in the bin of undelivered mail.
According to CBP agents, Wilson told them that he was in the wrong lane on I-190 and accidentally ended up on the bridge. When questioned, Wilson insisted that the mail belonged to him and his mother, but could not explain the hundreds of pieces of mail addressed to other people.
In a later interview with the Postal Service Office of the Inspector General, the USPS operative admitted that he had been taking mail from his delivery route and putting it in his car.
“Beginning in September 2020, Wilson estimated he placed mail from his delivery routes into the trunk of his vehicle on more than four but less than 10 instances after returning to the post office from his assigned route,” special agent Brendan M. Boone wrote in his report.
“Wilson intended to whittle down the amount of mail in the trunk of his vehicle by placing a small amount of the mail into USPS missort containers in the morning before his shift began. Wilson last reintroduced mailings into the mail stream in this fashion approximately three weeks prior [to] the date of the interview,” Boone continued.
The mail found in his trunk when he was stopped at the U.S.-Canada border included 106 political mailings, 220 first-class mailings and 484 standard mailings. Wilson claimed that he was not aware that he was in possession of the absentee ballots.
Court documents state that Wilson has been charged with delaying or destroying mail. If convicted, he faces five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
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