Defending Against Charges of Bribery or Corruption of Postal Workers

Being accused of bribing or corrupting a postal worker can be a scary situation. However, with the right legal defense, you may be able to get the charges dismissed or reduced. This article will provide an overview of bribery laws, typical scenarios, and strategies for building your defense.

What is Bribery?

Bribery involves offering, giving, soliciting, or receiving something of value in order to influence an official action or decision [1]. When it comes to postal workers, bribery often takes the form of:

• Giving money, gifts, or other benefits to a postal worker in exchange for stealing mail, delaying delivery, disclosing private information, or other prohibited acts
• A postal worker demanding or accepting bribes to commit illegal acts or favors

Bribery of public officials, including postal workers, is a federal crime under statutes like 18 U.S.C. § 201. Charges can lead to fines, imprisonment, and removal from postal service.

Common Bribery Scenarios

Some typical bribery cases involving postal workers include:

• A business pays off mail carriers to delay or destroy competitors’ mailings or promotional materials
• An individual bribes a postal clerk to intercept and steal mail containing cash, checks, or financial information
• A postal supervisor demands regular cash payments in order to assign overtime and preferred routes to carriers
• A drug trafficker pays postal drivers to ignore or steal packages containing illegal substances

During COVID-19, unemployment fraud also led to postal workers taking bribes to steal benefit checks from the mail [4].

Building Your Defense

Fighting federal bribery charges starts with hiring an experienced defense lawyer. They can analyze the evidence, identify weaknesses, and build arguments to undermine the prosecution’s case. Some strategies may include:

Attacking the credibility of witnesses

Often the evidence will rely heavily on testimony from postal workers or informants. Your lawyer can try to undermine their credibility by showing they have reasons to lie, lack corroborating evidence, or have a history of dishonesty.

Demonstrating lack of criminal intent

Proving bribery requires showing you intended to corruptly influence the postal worker. Your lawyer may argue there was no such intent – for example, a “gift” was an innocent gesture of appreciation or part of an accepted office culture.

Arguing you did not “officially” act

Bribery laws require the postal worker to misuse their official position. Your lawyer might claim that what you requested was not part of their official duties, and therefore not illegal bribery.

Attacking improper investigative methods

If investigators used unlawful techniques like illegal wiretaps or coercing statements, your lawyer may be able to get evidence excluded and weaken the prosecution’s case.

Seeking charge dismissals or reductions

Your lawyer will identify any legal or evidentiary weaknesses in the charges to get them dismissed entirely or reduced to less serious offenses.

Avoiding Bribery Accusations

The most guaranteed way to avoid bribery allegations is to never offer or accept anything of value from a postal worker to influence their duties. But some basic compliance practices can also help reduce risk [3]:

• Regularly train employees on bribery and ethics policies
• Perform risk assessments to identify potential problem areas
• Implement financial controls and monitoring of transactions
• Ensure reporting channels for suspected misconduct
• Conduct audits and investigations of any alleged violations

Having strong anti-bribery practices in place can help demonstrate you took reasonable steps to prevent wrongdoing. This won’t prevent frivolous accusations but can bolster your defense if charges ever arise.

The Bottom Line

Bribery involving postal workers is a unique form of public corruption. But with an experienced federal defense lawyer, you can challenge the allegations and evidence at every step. In some cases charges get dismissed before trial. Other times assertive defenses result in acquittals or convictions on lesser charges. So don’t assume that an accusation equals guaranteed punishment – fight back and protect your future.