Postal worker from Cobleskill given probation; Admitted dumping mail in Sharon Springs field

Aug. 4—SYRACUSE — A postal worker from Cobleskill was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months or probation for failing to deliver nearly 6,000 pieces of mail and dumping it in a field in Sharon Springs, federal prosecutors said.

Tanner Brown, 25, of Cobleskill, was also ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and ordered to complete 100 hours of community service. He had previously pleaded guilty to one felony count of delaying the mail.

The mail he admitted to dumping had been intended to be delivered in Onondaga County, in the Syracuse area, but instead ended up in the grassy field and in a wooded area, under a pile of discarded tires, prosecutors said.

Brown had faced up to five years in prison. His plea agreement, however, suggested a sentence of six months or less. Any sentence more than that and he could appeal the term.

Brown admitted to dumping the mail between Jan. 1, 2019 and July 24, 2019, prosecutors said. He did so while working as a postal carrier. In all, he admitted to failing to deliver 5,833 pieces of mail intended for residents in Onondaga County, his plea agreement read.

Instead, Brown admitted to driving the mail to Sharon Springs, dumping some in the grassy field and the rest in the wooded area.

"Much of the mail was 'First Class Mail,'" Brown's plea agreement read, "and when it was later recovered by agents, much of it was wet, dirty, and in some cases covered with bugs."

A release did not indicate whether Brown lived in Onondaga County at the time, or in Cobleskill. He was identified upon his indictment in December as from Sharon Springs.

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