Feds: Philly Postal Worker Had Over 20,000 Pieces of Mail in His Car and Garage

Former mail deliverer Patrick D'Ambrosio has been charged.

If you live in the Tacony neighborhood of Northeast Philadelphia and you’re missing some mail, the United States Department of Justice might have the answer.

On Wednesday, the Department of Justice charged Patrick D’Ambrosio with obstruction of mail, alleging that he “knowingly and willfully obstructed and retarded the passage of mail.”

According to a document filed by the DOJ in federal court on Wednesday, D’Ambrosio worked Philadelphia Carrier Route #35, which is in the 19135 ZIP code in Tacony.

The feds say that the mail in question involved 7,182 first class letters, 220 first class certified letters, 11,734 standard letters, five U.S. Treasury checks (been looking for that tax return?), 307 pieces of political mail (what? you voted for Kenney?), 2,508 non-profit letters (giving you an excuse for not sending WHYY that donation), 417 second class periodicals and 137 small parcels.

According to the feds, the mail was found in D’Ambrosio’s car and in trash bags in his garage.

On Wednesday afternoon, Department of Justice spokesperson Patricia Hartman confirmed that D’Ambrosio was a postal worker at the time of the alleged offenses, which occurred between May 29, 2014, and January 21, 2015, according to the charging document.

It’s not the first time that a Philadelphia-area mail carrier was accused of diverting your mail. In 2014, a Delaware County post office employee was charged with stealing cash and gift cards from their intended recipients. In 2013, a similar case sprung up in Abington, Montgomery County. And in 2009, a Germantown mail processing clerk was charged with stealing 2,200 video games mailed by the video game rental company GameFly.

D’Ambrosio could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. According to DOJ’s Hartman, D’Ambrosio was not in custody as of Wednesday afternoon.