Postal worker seen throwing mail in TN dumpster in viral video is charged, feds say

A postal worker caught on video throwing mail in a dumpster in Nashville has now been charged, federal officials said.

A grand jury indicted a 33-year-old Antioch man on a charge of unlawfully detaining and delaying the mail, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee said in an Oct. 3 news release.

His attorney information wasn’t available in federal court records.

A TikTok user uploaded footage in August showing a man carrying baskets of mail back and forth repeatedly between his marked USPS van and a dumpster before getting back in the vehicle and driving away, McClatchy News previously reported.

The nearly two-and-a-half minute video accrued over four million views and drew outrage from both the poster and viewers.

“This mailman is dumping people’s mail in the dumpster,” user @MRS_DENTON19 narrated. “I can’t make this up.”

The witness said she reported the incident to her local postmaster, and postal service employees later came to retrieve the mail from the dumpster, according to federal officials.

USPS said it identified the employee and placed him in non-duty status as it began investigating.

“We apologize to our customer for the actions seen in the video, which is clearly unacceptable behavior that does not reflect the efforts of the thousands of professional, dedicated carriers in our workforce,” a USPS spokesperson told McClatchy News in August.

The investigation led to an indictment on one charge, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine.

Anyone who suspects a USPS employee has committed mail theft can report it to the Office of Inspector General’s hotline.

This story was originally published October 4, 2024 at 7:56 AM with the headline "Postal worker seen throwing mail in TN dumpster in viral video is charged, feds say."