Josef Ratcliff, USPS Contract Bribery, Ohio 2025

Defendant Charged in USPS Contract Bribery Scheme

A former U.S. Postal Service (USPS) worker now faces additional accusations in a highly coordinated conspiracy to award USPS contracts to specific business entities.

Josef Ratcliff, 60, of Akron, Ohio, was initially charged with receiving bribes in an original indictment filed in July 2025. A federal grand jury has charged Ratcliff with the following:

• Conspiracy to Commit Honest Services Mail and Wire Fraud
• Conspiracy to Commit Extortion Under Color of Official Right
• Honest Services Mail and Wire Fraud
• Extortion Under Color of Official Right
• Receipt of Bribes by Federal Official
• Concealment Money Laundering

According to the allegations, Ratcliff was employed as a purchasing and supply management specialist with USPS. As part of his official duties, he solicited, received, and reviewed bids from contractors, focusing on logistics services for transporting the mail. Some of the contracts were worth more than $10 million.

Ratcliff’s co-conspirators, who have all previously pleaded guilty, allegedly paid him bribes worth thousands of dollars in the form of checks, electronic money transfers, and cash. The electronic transfers often included notes in attempts to conceal the true purpose of the payments, such as ‘car oil leak’ or ‘birthday present for big boy.’ One co-conspirator alone sent 14 bribes totaling $38,900.

Ratcliff is also alleged to have been explicit about the scheme in his phone calls with co-conspirators, providing specific bid information and explaining plans for spending the bribe money on his car and buying a new house. Part of the scheme involved the co-conspirators, with Ratcliff’s help, getting extensions of time to submit their bids, so Ratcliff could provide the full picture of the competitors’ bids to help co-conspirators craft winning bids.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio is handling the case. Sentencing for Ratcliff has not been scheduled yet.

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