United States Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook announced that a former U.S. Postal employee from Pitkin pleaded guilty Thursday to burning U.S. mail.
Mark Wayne Thompson, 50, of Pitkin, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell to one count of use of delay or destruction of mail by a postal employee.
According to the guilty plea, Thompson took mail from his rural postal route in Elmer, La., to his residence from Dec. 1, 2016 to May 1, 2017 where he burned it.
He estimated that he burned at least 20 tubs of mail.
Thompson faces up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a
$250,000 fine. The court set an April 6, 2018 sentencing date.
The U.S. Postal Service-Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys T. Forrest Phillips is prosecuting the case.