Sean Barrett, Delay or Destruction of Mail, New York 2021

Buffalo, NY – In a shocking case of mail tampering, Sean Barrett, a 30-year-old postal worker, pleaded guilty to delay or destruction of mail in a Buffalo, NY court, according to a recent plea deal.

Barrett, who was employed as a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier assigned to the Lewiston Post Office, was responsible for mail deliveries in Lewiston and Youngstown, NY. On October 13, 2020, Barrett was to deliver 1,314 mail pieces, including 502 first class mailings, two certified mailings, and 794 standard mailings, for delivery in the Youngstown area. Instead of delivering those mail pieces, the defendant placed them in a wooded area off Pletcher Road in Youngstown.

The mail was later recovered by law enforcement officers on the same day. Six days later, on October 19, 2020, fourteen bundles of banded Western New York Value newspapers, dated between August 29 and October 10, 2020, were discovered by USPS agents discarded in a wooded area just west of where the mail pieces were discovered.

Barrett was interviewed by USPS agents on October 20, 2020, and admitted to dumping the mail and newspapers instead of delivering them.

The plea is the result of an investigation by the United States Postal Service, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Kenneth Cleevely, Eastern Area Field Office, Pittsburgh, PA, and the Lewiston Police Department, under the direction of Chief Frank Previte.

Barrett faces a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine for the crime, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 19, 2021, at 2:00 p.m. before Judge McCarthy.

Contact: Barbara Burns, (716) 843-5817, (716) 551-3051, FAX #.

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