In what may perhaps be one of the most clever drug dealing schemes in history, five mail carriers from Cleveland now face federal charges for delivering marijuana, according to a federal indictment this week.
There’s been no word yet if the carriers ever mixed up packages, thus delivering OG Kush to unsuspecting and lucky potheads.
Facing charges of conspiracy for accepting bribes and distributing marijuana are Devon Blake, 25, Rashon Blake, 25, Tamika Embry, 32, Aaron Kelly, 28, and Dartagnan Mitchell, 28.
The workers were paid in cash by a drug dealer who used their services as they effectively moonlighted in broad daylight while working federal jobs for the USPS.
The quintet worked for admitted drug dealer Kevin Collins, telling him their schedules and routes so Collins could ship marijuana to addresses along the carrier’s routes on the days they worked.
Instead of delivering the packages to the address listed, the carriers would deliver the packages to Collin instead, and Collins would then pay them cash.
Carriers sometimes did not scan packages or scanned them improperly to cover up their wrongdoing.
Embry and Kelly pleaded not guilty to Magistrate Judge William Baughman and were released on bond. The three other defendants received summonses. Collins pleaded guilty to dealing drugs in March.
"These are folks who had jobs, decent jobs as mail carriers, and they threw it all away for $200, $300, $400 of cash," said Michael Tobin of the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Carole S. Rendon, Acting U.S. States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, said: “These mail carriers used their positions not to serve the public, but to be spokes in a drug-trafficking organization. They violated the trust of the public and their employer, and now must answer to criminal charges.”
The maximum jail time faced by the carriers is 15 years.
