Postal worker indicted after mail found dumped in Baton Rouge area

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Court documents show Judith Hughes, a city carrier assistant employed by the United State Postal Service (USPS) was indicted on an obstruction of mail charge Friday, Aug. 16.

The charges stem from an incident in March of 2019 in which Hughes allegedly dumped two bundles of mail containing approximately 111 pieces of mail in a trash container near the Sherwood Forest Townhomes on S Flannery Road.

Debbie Henning, who manages property in the area, later discovered the mail.

“The dumped mail was definitely mail that was important to the recipient. I delivered some Louisiana tax refunds, a letter from the Dean of LSU’s law school, and envelopes with personal checks as payments to a local company. I knew if the post office got them back, they would be used as evidence,” Henning told WAFB after the discovery. “There was a load of grand openings of a fitness business, [the business will] pay a lot to have those printed and delivered. There was mail from phone companies, looked like billing invoices, insurance company invoices, and doctor offices bills."

As a city carrier assistant, Hughes’ responsibilities included collecting, sorting, and delivering mail.

USPS declined to comment on the indictment, instead referring WAFB to a statement it previously released in March about the investigation. You can read that statement below.

"At this time we can confirm U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS OIG) special agents are responding to an allegation regarding deliverable mail which was found on March 11, 2019, unattended in the Baton Rouge, LA area. The USPS OIG considers the aforementioned allegation to be a very serious matter. When these types of allegations are made, USPS OIG Special Agents vigorously investigate these matters. It is important to note that an allegation is merely an accusation. All persons are presumed innocent unless otherwise adjudicated by a court of law.

The U.S. Postal Service employs more than 625,000 employees and is the largest civilian federal workforce in the country. This type of alleged behavior within the Postal Service is not tolerated and the overwhelming majority of Postal Service employees, which serve the public, are honest, hardworking, and trustworthy individuals who would never consider engaging in any type of criminal behavior.

At this time, no additional information related to this investigation is available for public release due to Privacy Act considerations and the ongoing status of the USPS OIG’s investigation."