The Department of Justice announced today that the government has joined a civil lawsuit alleging that Lance Armstrong, Johan Bruyneel and Tailwind Sports LLC and Tailwind Sports Corporation (Tailwind) submitted or caused the submission of false claims to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) in connection with its sponsorship of a professional bicycle racing team by regularly employing banned substances and methods to enhance their performance, in violation of the USPS sponsorship agreements.

From 1996 through 2004, the USPS sponsored a professional cycling team owned by Tailwind and its predecessors. Lance Armstrong was the lead rider on the team, and between 1999 and 2004, he won six consecutive Tour de France titles as a member of the USPS-sponsored team. Johan Bruyneel was the directeur sportif, or manager, of the cycling team.

The sponsorship agreements gave the USPS certain promotional rights, including the right to prominent placement of the USPS logo on the cycling team’s uniform. Each of the agreements required the team to follow the rules of cycling’s governing bodies, which prohibited the use of certain performance enhancing substances and methods. Between 2001 and 2004 alone, the Postal Service paid $31 million in sponsorship fees.

The lawsuit joined today by the government alleges that riders on the USPS-sponsored team, including Armstrong, knowingly caused the USPS agreements to be violated by regularly employing banned substances and methods to enhance their performance. The lawsuit further alleges that Bruyneel knew that team members were using performance enhancing substances and facilitated the practice. Read the rest of this entry »

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Gene Quarles, 47, of Spotsylvania, Va., pleaded guilty late yesterday to receiving thousands of dollars in bribes to use his position as a purchasing specialist for the United States Postal Service to obtain and facilitate contracts for a Maryland-based information technology firm. Read the rest of this entry »

On Tuesday federal agents raided the offices of Beam Brothers Trucking in Mount Crawford, VA. The company provides mail transportation for the US Postal Service, and according to its web site, currently has “67 contracts from six different areas”.

The Harrisonburg Daily News-Record reports that federal agencies involved wouldn’t comment on the cause for the raid, and neither would the company. But an affadavit filed to support the search warrant request indicates that the company has been accused of falsifying driver records.

According to the trucking industry magazine LandLine:

The affidavit says federal investigators have testimony from nine witnesses who worked for the company. One witness reportedly saw an argument between the company’s safety director and two supervisors in which the safety director brought up concerns over hours-of-service violations and “relevant U.S. DOT regulations,” court documents state.

The alleged response from supervisors: “We don’t give a $#@*.”

Another witness showed investigators multiple trip routes requiring drivers to exceed the 11-hour driving limit if driven in one trip. The longest such route – Knoxville, TN, to Hooks, TX, to Dallas, TX – exceeded the 11-hour limit by 20 hours. The employee was later told “the illegal routes will not be fixed because they make the company too much money,” the affidavit reads.

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A resident of Washington, Pa., has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on a charge of Theft of Mail, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

The one-count indictment, returned on Feb. 12, named John Marianov, 57, as the sole defendant.

According to the indictment presented to the court, Marianov was employed as a highway route contract driver for the United States Postal Service. From May 2012 ,through December 2012, while Marianov was working as a contract driver, he stole greeting cards and letters containing cash, checks, money orders, gift cards and opera tickets from mail that was routed through the Washington, Pa., post office. The total value of the stolen items was over $4,000.

The law provides for a maximum total sentence of five years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

Assistant United States Attorney Tonya Sulia Goodman is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

The United States Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation leading to the indictment in this case.

An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Read more: USDOJ: US Attorney’s Office – Western Pennsylvania.

(Marcy, NY – February 11, 2013) – On February 7, 2013, The New York State Police BCI in Marcy, arrested CHRISTINA M. DUDEK, age 38, 2 Douglas Ave. Yorkville, N.Y. after a nine month investigation conducted by the United States Postal Service Inspector Generals Office.

Dudek, an employee of the Oriskany, N.Y. post office, is alleged to have stolen a credit card and $100 cash from the US Mail when it was received at the Oriskany Post Office. She was charged with one count of Grand Larceny 4th Degree, a felony, and was issued an appearance ticket returnable to the Village of Oriskany Court on February 13, 2013.

The case was investigated by Special Agent Mark Parah of the Postal Service Inspector Generals Office in Syracuse, N.Y. and Inv Chad Tangorra of SP Marcy BCI.

COMMERCE, Calif — A U.S. postal worker has been arrested for allegedly physically assaulting an 11-year old girl at Bristow Park.Deputies were called to the park on Monday after receiving a call about a attack on a youngster.When deputies arrived, the young girl told deputies that a postal worker had choked her with his hands for laughing at him when he tried to use the restroom facilities and inadvertently entered the women’s restroom.Several other people told deputies they witnessed the incident.

Read the rest of this entry »

COBLESKILL, N.Y. — An employee at the Cobleskill post office has been accused of stealing items from the mail.

Cobleskill police began investigating reports of theft from the mail earlier this month and on Wednesday, they arrested Kelly Christman, 46, of Carlisle.

Read more: Woman accused of mail theft – YNN, Your News Now.

A former employee of the United States Postal Service pleaded guilty to fraudulently collecting approximately $265,000 in benefits by exaggerating her medical condition and other acts, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, and Robert LaPina, Special Agent in Charge for the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General. Read the rest of this entry »

BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted a former U.S. Postal Service employee for a wire fraud scheme in which he falsified electronic travel vouchers totaling more than $30,000, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and Postal Service Office of Inspector General Assistant Special Agent in Charge Christopher Nugent.

The indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges BOBBY W. BRUCE JR., 36, of Gadsden, with submitting 39 false expense vouchers through the Postal Service’s electronic travel expense system. Bruce sought mileage reimbursement between January 2012 and October 2012 for official travel that he never took, according to the indictment. Once the fictitious expense claim was submitted, Bruce used his manager’s computer login information to approve the voucher, the indictment says.

The Postal Service Finance and Account Center in Minnesota approved the falsified vouchers and paid $31,126 as mileage reimbursement into Bruce’s credit union account in Gadsden, according to the indictment.

The indictment seeks to have Bruce forfeit that amount as proceeds of illegal activity.

The maximum penalty for wire fraud is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Terence M. O’Rourke is prosecuting.

FOUNTAINTOWN — U.S. Postal Service investigators are offering a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever was responsible for the burglary of the Fountaintown Post Office last week.

The post office at 11675 N. Division Road was broken into on Wednesday and mail was taken from the post office box section.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service said it will offer a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the party or parties responsible.

Read more: The Shelbyville News > News > Post office burglarized.