Posted on 09/10/2001 5:31:43 AM PDT by ex-Texan
Former Mississippi mail carrier gets 13 months in prison for not delivering
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- A former mail carrier was sentenced to 13 months in federal prison for failing to deliver all the mail on his route for about a year and a half.
Prosecutors said Jesse Reynolds kept mail at his home because he wanted to speed up his delivery time and impress his supervisors. Reynolds told investigators he also dropped mail into collection boxes to be delivered by other postal workers.
"I know what I did was wrong," he said before being sentenced Saturday. "All I can say is I'm sorry and I accept whatever judgment you give me."
Reynolds worked as a temporary mail carrier from 1995 to 1998. He conducted the scheme from October 1996 to May 1998.
The nearly 4,300 pieces of mail included a $50,000 cashier's check, packages containing jewelry, utility bills, food stamps and greeting cards.
William Brake, a U.S. Postal inspector, said authorities found 26 feet of mail intended for delivery stacked in Reynolds' former home.
"He was a transitional mail carrier in a part-time position that was of a non-career status," Brake said. "He was trying to impress management because he wanted a full-time job."
Some of the mail was opened, and Reynolds admitted taking about $200 in cash from the mail, said Mike Knapp, Reynolds' lawyer.
Brake said authorities became aware of the scheme last September when Reynolds' landlord told authorities several pieces of mail were left when he moved.
The scheme started "with mail not being delivered on a few blocks one day and a few more blocks another day," Brake said.
Postal inspectors, ha!
He was only charged with non-delivery?
What about opening someone else's mail and theft?
The management at the apartment complex has said that they have received numerous complaints and that the Post Office has informed them that complaining or filling out an official report would be a waste of time. The PO said the deliverygirl is a minority and it would be almost impossible to replace her.
Reminds me of a joke about an old Navy man who, feeling his age a bit too much for active duty, accepted a transfer to a Pentagon desk job.
From early morning until late evening, he read and acted upon mind-numbing bureaucratic paperwork. The most galling thing about it was the presence of a junior officer down the corridor who always seemed to finish in a few hours.
Finally, swallowing his pride, he dropped in and asked how he managed this feat.
"It's simple. This stuff is just useless crap, so I just mark it 'ATTN: Captain Smith' and put it in my OUT box."
"That's very clever. Now, put up your dukes, because I am about to kill you. I am Captain Smith."
Back in the 70's, I had one of the first subscriptions to a magazine called easyrider. It almost never arrived, or was very late. Turned out every military mail clerk down the line was reading it.
Only figured it out when the mail clerks always knew the jokes before I saw it, and I was writing most of the jokes for that magazine then, for the free subscription.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.