Robert Elliot Sheppard, Drug Trafficking, Georgia 2022
A former U.S. Postal Service mail carrier has been sentenced to three years of prison for recruiting fellow mail carriers to deliver packages of cocaine and marijuana while he was on disability leave.
Robert Elliot Sheppard, 61, of East Point, Ga., pleaded guilty to the offenses of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana, and unlawfully using the mail to commit that crime, on August 3, 2022.
According to U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan, Sheppard worked as a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier in 2015 and used his position to deliver five-pound packages of drugs through the U.S. mail to Dexter Frazier, a local drug trafficker who sold cocaine and marijuana.
In 2016, Frazier approached Sheppard about delivering additional drug packages. Sheppard was on disability leave from the USPS at that time and unable to intercept and deliver packages. But he offered to recruit other mail carriers to deliver drugs for Frazier in exchange for referral fees in the form of a mix of cash and marijuana.
Sheppard then contacted two coworkers, Tonie Harris and Clifton Lee. Sheppard explained to Harris and Lee that they could earn bribes for delivering packages of drugs along their mail routes, and taught them how to arrange the deliveries to avoid detection.
U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones sentenced Robert Elliott Sheppard to three years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay a fine in the amount of $30,000.
The charges and other information presented in court show that Sheppard recklessly recruited two mail carriers to deliver packages of drugs and was paid for doing so. Through his actions, Sheppard endangered the communities he served and betrayed the trust bestowed upon him by the USPS.
Key Facts
- State: Georgia
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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