Brandon Wilson, a mail carrier from Buffalo, New York, was arrested on Nov. 3 after authorities found 810 pieces of United States mail and three absentee ballots in the trunk of his car.
He was stopped by customs while attempting to leave the country over Peace Bridge, a crossing from New York's western border into Ontario.
Wilson has been charged with the delay or destruction of mail—a Federal offense that could earn him as many as five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines, according to local news.
Inspector Brendan Boone, an agent of the Postal Service's Office of Inspector General, doesn’t think this is the first time Wilson has attempted similar behavior.
Per Boone, Wilson has confessed to stealing mail on four separate occasions since September. That wasn't what he told customs when they first caught him.
According to an account given to authorities, Wilson first claimed that the mail belonged to him and his mother. But when he failed to explain why the pieces of mail were addressed to a different name, Wilson told authorities he had simply forgotten they were there.
The mail in Wilson's vehicle included 106 political mailers, 220 first-class pieces of mail, and 484 standard mailers, as well as the three absentee ballots. Most of the mail was for the ZIP codes 14215, but others included 14227, 14211 and 14214.
Apparently, Wilson's travel on the bridge was in error. He ended up on the wrong lane on I-90 and couldn't turn back before the border crossing.