Former WNY Postal Worker Pleads Guilty to Stealing Mail, Absentee Ballots
A former postal worker from the Buffalo area has plead guilty to stealing over 800 pieces of mail late last year, including three absentee ballots.
27-year-old Brandon Wilson was arrested at the Canadian border on Election Day after he a wrong turn led him onto the Peace Bridge border crossing outside of Buffalo. Upon routine inspection of his vehicle, CBP officers found a USPS box containing the stolen mail, along with Wilson's USPS employee uniform and identification badge.
"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 Boone wrote in the complaint, according to The Buffalo News. "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 mis sort 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."
Wilson initially claimed that the mail belonged to him and his mother, despite the variety of names on the parcels.
WGRZ reports that Wilson plead guilty Monday to the delay or destruction of U.S. mail, a felony that carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine. He is scheduled for sentencing on May 6, 2021.
The stolen mail primarily came from the zip code 14215, but some pieces may have also come from 14227, 14211 and 14214.
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