Nicholas Beauchene was arrested and charged by the Department of Justice for aiding in the delay of mail and obstruction of mail. The 26-year-old faces one count on each charge and faces up to five and a half years in prison, as well as a $255,000 fine.
During his short stint as a mail carrier, Beauchene allegedly threw out 1,875 pieces of mail in a dumpster in North Arlington and another in West Orange.
But the plot thickens: 98 of those pieces of mail in the North Arlington dumpster were general election ballots and one was found in the West Orange dumpster. Luckily, the mail was able to be salvaged and eventually was delivered.
The former employee started working for the USPS in July, CNN reports, and it is believed that he dumped the mail on two separate occasions from two different mail routes.
The crime was discovered by Howard Dinger, a North Arlington resident. Dinger immediately contacted the authorities when he stumbled across the discarded mail while throwing his trash in the dumpster.
Beauchene had his first court appearance Wednesday afternoon at a federal courthouse in Newark, NJ the Department of Justice stated.
