Postman facing rare federal charge in Baton Rouge for not delivering mail

BATON ROUGE – A mail carrier is facing a federal indictment on charges he did not deliver nearly 600 pieces of mail earlier this year.

Deandre Cosby was indicted Wednesday, WBRZ learned, for unlawful delay or destruction of mail by a postal service employee. The indictment was handed up at the federal courthouse in downtown Baton Rouge.

While the indictment written by federal prosecutors is vague, it reports the mail went missing from somewhere in Baton Rouge.

It appears, according to prosecutors, that Cosby failed to deliver and may have destroyed 550 pieces of mail between July 14 and July 16.

Prosecutors pointed out a certified letter was among the items not delivered.

The rarely-seen charge against a postman is a felony.

A spokesperson for the US Post Office did not have information on what happened when contacted by WBRZ early Thursday. The US Post Office is expected to release more information – possibly about the areas of the city where the mail went missing from – at some point.

Cosby has not been arrested.

While the postal service has not released specific information as of this post, WBRZ reported in July of a postal worker seen dumping mail in a storm drain.

"I saw the mail truck stopped at the storm drain between my neighbor's house and mine," an eyewitness who asked not to be identified told 2 On Your Side reporter Brittany Weiss at the time. "I saw him grab stuff from inside the truck and throw it in the drain and kick it further into the drain."

The woman called 2 On Your Side out of frustration when she found the mail in the drain.

"It wasn't all junk mail," she said. "Some of it, you could tell, was addressed."

The incident featured on TV by the 2 On Your Side advocacy team happened on July 14 - the first day the indictment alleges Cosby did not deliver mail.

Mail found in the drain featured in July on the 2 On Your Side report was addressed to the Broadmoor area of Baton Rouge near Sharp Road and Old Hammond Hwy.

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