EMBED >More News Videos Los Angeles County election officials are apologizing for a misprint of more than 2,000 ballots that omitted the presidential race.
NEWARK, N.J. -- Officials announced a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier from New Jersey was arrested Wednesday for discarding mail, including 99 general election ballots sent from a county board of elections.Nicholas Beauchene, 26, of Kearny, is charged by complaint with one count of delay, secretion, or detention of mail and one count of obstruction of mail. He is scheduled to appear this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cathy L. Waldor in Newark federal court.Approximately 1,875 pieces of mail - including 627 pieces of first class, 873 pieces of standard class, two pieces of certified mail, 99 general election ballots destined for residents in West Orange, and 276 campaign flyers from local candidates for West Orange Town Council and Board of Education - were recovered from dumpsters in North Arlington and West Orange on Oct. 2 and Oct 5, according to documents and statements made in court.The mail had been scheduled to be delivered on Sept. 28, Oct. 1, and Oct. 2, 2020, to addresses on certain postal routes in Orange and West Orange. On the delivery dates for which mail was recovered, Beauchene was the only mail carrier assigned to deliver mail to the addresses on the recovered mail.Officials say the recovered mail was placed back into the mail stream for delivery to its intended recipients. Copies of the recovered mail were made and retained as evidence.The delay of mail charge is punishable by a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The obstruction of mail charge is punishable by a maximum penalty of six months in prison and a $5,000 fine.
GundeathThunder on October 7th, 2020 at 22:29 UTC »
As a former mail carrier this sounds like somebody new who wasn't able to cut it and decided to chuck out the mail instead of delivering it to make his route easier.
The thing is the Postal Inspectors are out on the watch for stuff like this and it's a federal crime. I have no doubt this carrier did this at least a few times before he was caught. They were probably watching him for awhile after complaints came in along his route.
Stupid thing to go to jail for. If you can't manage the job then let them fire you for being slow. At least you'll get benefits and not have to worry about going into a jail cell.
MaggieGto on October 7th, 2020 at 21:27 UTC »
I wonder if he was a full time postal employee or a temp casual. Doesn't matter if it was a ballot or not, you're not supposed to mess with the mail. Dumping ANY mail is wrong. " Because the United States Postal Service is a federal agency, mailboxes are considered federal property, and mail theft is charged as a federal offense. If you are charged with mail theft, you could face up to five years in federal prison and fines of up to $250,000. " from LegalBeagle dot com Punishment needs to be harsh or Americans will be a greater threat to our democracy than the Russians are.
nariusone on October 7th, 2020 at 19:44 UTC »
Good. Throw the book at this guy and lock him up for a long time.