Mail carrier from Broadview Heights locked up for three months for stealing packages containing marijuana

A mail carrier from Broadview Heights was sentenced to three months of incarceration for stealing packages containing marijuana.

Thomas N. Schaefer, 44, previously pleaded guilty to one count of theft of mail.

Schaefer was assigned to the Newburg Post Office, zip code 44127 in Cleveland, when he stole two parcels in 2017 which contained more than 10 pounds of marijuana, according to court documents.

On March 22, 2017, Schaefer took a parcel addressed to a house on Dolloff Road in Cleveland. He suspected it contained marijuana. He opened it and found four vacuum-sealed one-pound bags of marijuana, according to court documents.

Schaefer took a parcel addressed to an address on Melgrove Avenue in Garfield Heights on Aug. 4 and kept it for himself. The parcel contained 6.7 pounds of marijuana, according to court documents.

U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General Special Agent in Charge Kenneth Cleevely, Eastern Area Field Office, said: “The jail sentence in this case should send a message to those postal employees who decide to go into the drug dealing business for themselves by stealing drug parcels from the mail. When they are caught by Special Agents with the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General and Postal Inspectors, they lose their career, benefits, retirement, and, in this case, their freedom. They also put their fellow employees at risk. This investigation was initiated when Schaefer’s supervisor was assaulted by drug dealers looking for a drug parcel Schaefer may very well have stolen. Postal employees should be advised that USPS OIG special agents make these types of investigations a top priority. To report criminal activity or serious misconduct committed by postal employees, contact USPS OIG special agents at www.uspsoig.gov or 888-USPS-OIG.”

Assistant United States Attorney Elliot Morrison prosecuted the case following an investigation by the United States Postal Service Office of the Inspector General and the United States Postal Inspection Service.