KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A former northwest Missouri mail carrier faces up to five years in federal prison after admitting he threw away thousands of pieces of mail rather than deliver them.
Federal prosecutors say 54-year-old David Thompson, of Warrensburg, pleaded guilty Monday to stealing U.S. mail.
Prosecutors said that Thompson threw away an estimated 20,000 pieces of mail addressed to 5,571 recipients from May 2012 to January 2014.
Thompson’s supervisors suspected in late 2013 that he was drinking alcohol while on duty and while delivering mail on his official route. During their investigation, a covert camera was installed in his delivery vehicle.
Thompson was observed pulling mail already sorted for delivery and placing the mail in a white tub, which he hid in a carport at his personal residence. The next two days, he also pulled mail already sorted for delivery, and each day he bundled it and put it into his personal vehicle. On Jan. 11, 2014, Thompson was recorded throwing a bundle of mail into a trash container, and later placing a tub of mail underneath the carport at his residence.
On Jan. 13, 2014, he placed his coat over a tub of mail and placed the mail into his personal vehicle. On Jan. 15, 2014, he took a tub of mail and placed it under the carport at his residence. The next two days, he did the same thing. He took more mail on Jan. 18, 2014. On Jan. 17, 2014, a federal agent recovered four black plastic trash bags of mail from Thompson’s route from the dumpster behind the Elk’s Lodge (where Thompson was a member and served as Exalted Ruler) located at 822 E. Young Avenue in Warrensburg.
Thompson is no longer employed by the postal service.
(AP with Post contributions)