Postal worker accused of dumping thousands of pieces of mail in woods

YOUNGSTOWN, N.Y. — A postal worker in Lewiston, New York, is accused of dumping thousands of pieces of mail in the woods, investigators said.

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Sean Barrett was seen Oct. 13 dumping mail near a trail in a wooded area of Youngstown, WKBW reported.

Investigators determined that day Barrett’s scanner was dormant from 12:20 to 3:54 p.m. in Youngstown. They also searched the woods where Barrett was seen and found three postal service bins and two garbage bags filled with first class, certified and standard mail.

Investigators discovered Barrett threw away 1,314 pieces of mail destined for Youngstown addresses. There were 502 first class pieces of mail, two certified mailings, 794 standard pieces of mail, one absentee ballot and 15 political mailings.

Investigators searched the area again Oct. 19 and found more pieces of discarded mail. This time they found 972 Western New York Value Papers.

Investigators said Barrett told them he dumped mail on two or three occasions when he would have pieces left over at the end of his shifts. The scanner was dormant because he removed the battery for “equipment issues stemming from working multiple delivery routes.”

Barrett was disciplined in August for bringing mail back to the post office.

Cox Media Group