Sacramento postal worker charged with withholding more than 1,000 pieces of political mail
A Sacramento postal worker is facing federal charges after prosecutors say he withheld more than 1,000 pieces of political campaign mail intended for residents ahead of California's Nov. 3 general election.
Antoine Rashad Polite, 35, was charged with delaying and obstructing the delivery of U.S. mail, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California announced on Monday.
Polite worked as a letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service in Sacramento County. Investigators allege that between Sept. 23 and Oct. 27, "Polite improperly withheld" hundreds of pieces of political mail rather than delivering them to residents.
The investigation began after a report on Oct. 19 from managers at the Colonial Post Office in Lemon Hill, an unincorporated area of South Sacramento. According to the criminal complaint, managers reported that more than 1,000 pieces of political mail had been improperly disposed of.
The Colonial Post Office serves the neighborhoods of Lemon Hill, Fruitridge Manor, Parkway and Southeast Village. About 46 mail carriers work in the area, including Polite, who had more than 540 delivery points on his assigned route, according to the broadcast report.
The complaint also alleges that some of the mail had addresses deliberately scratched out, with the word "COPY" written across the front in marker.
Among the withheld mail were campaign mail related to candidates and ballot propositions on California's Nov. 3 general election ballot, prosecutors said.
The criminal complaint did not identify the specific local races involved, instead referring to the candidates as "Candidate A" and "Candidate B."
However, Eric Guerra, who ran against Dr. Flo Cofer for the District 1 seat on the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, confirmed to CBS News Sacramento that he was "Candidate B" in the complaint. Cofer was identified as "Candidate A."
Nearly 700 of the more than 1,000 pieces of political mail were related to the Guerra-Cofer race, while the remaining pieces involved three ballot propositions, according to the broadcast report.
Guerra said he learned about the mail issue the night before the election.
"We can't have some independent person just think that they can decide what's best for voters," Guerra said. "Voters should take all the information and make the decision for themselves, not arbitrarily some other person."
Cofer also released a statement about the case, saying, "We're glad to hear postal officials ultimately recovered and delivered the mailers to the intended recipients."
She added that "there is no reason to believe the delayed mail impacted the election results."
Most of the withheld mail was later delivered to their intended addresses, officials said.
If convicted, Polite faces up to six months in prison for obstruction of mail and one year for delay or destruction of mail, prosecutors said.
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