Area postal workers face federal charges

9/21/2011

Three area U.S. Postal Service workers, including two village postmasters and a letter carrier from Toledo, have been charged in unrelated cases in U.S. District Court in Toledo with federal violations of postal laws, said Steven M. Dettelbach, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

No court dates have been set for the three suspects.

Scott Balfour, special agent with the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General in Cleveland, said yesterday that a criminal information was filed against Lynda Mackey, 24, of Fremont for allegedly embezzling postal funds between November and April.

Ms. Mackey, who served as postmaster relief in Green Springs, is charged with issuing about $1,700 of postal money orders to herself without providing payment. She has been suspended from her position, according to Mr. Balfour.

Marsha Ann Deitemyer, 54, of Elmore was charged with obstruction of U.S. mail between Aug. 31, 2010, and April 29.

Authorities said Ms. Deitemyer, who served as postmaster in Martin, was arrested on April 29 by Oregon police officers for shoplifting at a store. She was found with four credit cards that did not belong to her, authorities said.

Postal authorities allege she obtained the credit cards as a result of her employment with the Postal Service.

She was suspended pending the outcome of the investigation.

Also charged was Eric R. Ramsey, 27, of Toledo. He is accused of theft of mail on Jan. 18.

Authorities said Mr. Ramsey, a letter carrier at Station A, 618 2nd St. in East Toledo, is accused of taking a gift card from an envelope that was intended for delivery.

Mr. Ramsey is no longer employed by the Postal Service, Mr. Balfour said.

“Incidents of this nature are very rare. The vast majority of the Postal Service’s 500,000 employees are hardworking, trustworthy individuals who would never violate the public’s trust by stealing mail or money,” Mr. Balfour said in a statement. “However, when a postal employee chooses to break the law, special agents with the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Postal Service will aggressively investigate these allegations and pursue criminal charges and seek their termination.”

The defendants’ sentences, if convicted, will be determined by the court “after review of factors unique to each case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation,” he said.

The incidents were investigated by the Postal Service’s Inspector General and will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney, Thomas O. Secor.

Postal inspectors are a separate law enforcement agency within the Postal Service who investigated allegations of crimes by postal employees.

— Jim Sielicki