A Virginia Beach mail carrier admitted to dumping more than 200 pieces of mail in a dumpster.
Jerold Mayers pleaded guilty to one count of delay or destruction of mail and is scheduled to be sentenced in March 2026.
The incident occurred in May 2025 when a customer witnessed Mayers remove a crate full of mail and dump it into a dumpster at an apartment complex on the 5000 block of Coltfield Court in Virginia Beach.
Another person photographed the incident and reported it to the post office.
The USPS Office of the Inspector General launched an investigation. Other postal employees went to the dumpster and recovered about 230 pieces of mail, including checks, bank statements, nonprofit mailings and other correspondence. The mail was returned to the mail stream.
During an interview with investigators, Mayers admitted to dumping the mail. He said the mail was old and that after he urinated in an empty water bottle and placed it on top of the mail, he thought it was contaminated and needed to be thrown away. Federal documents state he did not inform management about the incident.
Records show Mayers had previous performance issues. He began working for the postal service in September 2024 and within three months was asked to resign from his position as a mail carrier at a different Virginia Beach post office for failing to finish his route.
After resigning, he applied for and accepted a position at the US Postal Service Norfolk Sales and Distribution Center, where he worked for three weeks before accepting another carrier position in Virginia Beach, according to court records.
WTKR continues to report on postal service employees getting arrested for theft or destruction of mail, stolen arrow keys and robberies of mail carriers.
"Every day, mail is stolen, identities are compromised, bank accounts are drained," said Frank Albergo, president of the US Postal Police Union. "Basically what's happening is you have an all-out assault on the postal system."
