Former postal worker in Louisville charged for allegedly dumping absentee ballots
A United States Postal Service employee in Louisville who dumped a large quantity of mail — including about 111 general election absentee ballots — has been charged for willfully obstructing the passage of mail, U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman said Monday.
DeShawn Bojgere, 30, of, Louisville, was charged with the federal crime of delaying or destroying mail. If convicted, he faces no more than 5 years in prison a $250,000 fine, and one year of supervised release after serving the sentence.
The criminal complaint said sometime between Oct. 5 and Oct. 15, 20 Bojgere discarded a large quantity of mail.
The mail, found in a construction dumpster on Galene Drive in Louisville, included about 111 general election absentee ballots from the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office being mailed to voters to be filled out.
The dumped mail also included about 69 mixed class pieces of flat rate mail, 320 second class pieces of mail, and two national election campaign flyers from a political party in Florida. An analysis of the mail revealed it was from a single route for one scheduled delivery day.
Bojgere admitted to special agents with the U.S. Postal Service that he was responsible for discarding the mail in the construction dumpster, said Coleman Bogjere iss no longer employed by the postal service.
Copies of the mail were made to retain as evidence, while all of the recovered mail was placed back in the mail stream for delivery to its intended recipients, said Coleman.
“Especially in these times, Americans depend on the reliability and integrity of those that deliver the U.S. mail,” said the federal prosecutor. “Conduct by Postal employees that violates that duty will result in swift federal prosecution.”
A federal complaint is a written statement of the essential facts of the offense charged and must be made under oath before a U.S. magistrate judge. The charge set forth in a complaint is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The case is being investigated by the United States Postal Service Office of the Inspector General.
This story was originally published October 26, 2020 at 5:58 PM.
