A Western New York postal carrier was been arrested at the Canadian border after allegedly trying to leave the U.S. with more than 800 pieces of mail in his car, including absentee ballots.
The Buffalo News reports federal court documents show Brandon Wilson, a U.S. Postal Service employee assigned to the West Seneca post office, was stopped at the Peace Bridge shortly after 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Authorities found a bin in his trunk containing mail, including three absentee ballots sent out by the Erie County Board of Elections and 106 political mailings.
Brendan M. Boone, a special agent for the Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General, filed a criminal complaint alleging Wilson admitted stealing mail from his delivery routes and placing it into his car on at least four instances beginning in September 2020.
“Wilson intended to whittle down the amount of mail in the trunk of his vehicle by placing a small amount of the mail into USPS mis sort containers in the morning before his shift began,” Boone wrote. “Wilson last reintroduced mailings into the mail stream in this fashion approximately three weeks prior [to] the date of the interview.”
WIVB reports the mail was found during a standard sweep by Customs and Border Protection at the international bridge, which connects Buffalo, N.Y., with Fort Erie, Ontario, in Canada. Wilson allegedly told CBP agents that the mail belonged to him and his mother but could not explain the mail addressed to other people, according to the complaint. Wilson also had part of his USPS carrier uniform and identification badge with him.
Wilson, who was hired by the Postal Service in 2019, has been charged with the crime of delaying or destroying mail, according to the court documents.
The Buffalo News reports Wilson denied throwing out any mail or taking any greeting cards, cash or checks from mail on his route. He also denied knowing there were absentee ballots in the mail found in his car, which also included 220 first-class mailings and 484 standard mailings.
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