Mail carrier charged, appears in court

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

A federal charge has been filed against a Van Wert mail carrier accused of burning mail last fall and he made his initial court appearance on Thursday.

According to Charlene Cerra, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, USPS Office of the Inspector General, the mail carrier, Kyle Carver of Van Wert, appeared in the United States District Court, Northern District of Ohio and entered a plea of not guilty to one count of 18 USC 1703, delay or destruction of mail. If convicted, Carver faces fines and up to five years in prison. A trial date has not been scheduled and no other information was immediately available.

During the early morning hours of October 22, the Van Wert Police Department received a call from a concerned citizen in reference to a fire that was unattended in the backyard of a residence in the 900 block of George St.

When an officer went to investigate, there was evidence of USPS mail being burned. It was confirmed that Carver lived at the residence and was allegedly burning undelivered mail there. The Van Wert Fire Department was called to extinguish the fire.

The investigation was turned over to postmaster Greg McKeddie, who arrived on scene less than 45 minutes after the initial call. When approached by the VW independent that morning, McKeddie referred us to the USPS District Office of Northern Ohio in Cleveland.

The VW independent also reached out to the mail carrier for comment, but did not receive a response. However, in an interview with WANE 15 TV the day of the incident, Carver said “he’d forgottten to send out Friday’s mail to Central Ave, and said he noticed the pile in his truck this morning and, for fear of getting in trouble, put the 6-inch stack of envelopes in his fire pit and lit it on fire.” He also told the Fort Wayne television station that he had been taken off the Central Ave. route, and said he regretted his actions.

His current employment status at the Van Wert Post Office is unknown. As of early November, he was still employed by USPS. The VW independent reached out to Naddia Dhalai, USPS Strategic Communications Specialist, on Thursday for an update but she was out of the office.