Postal Worker Accused Of Mail Dumping Changes Plea To Guilty

Matteo Morelli, accused of delaying or destroying mail from residents of East Greenwich and neighboring communities while working as a mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, has changed his plea to guilty, according to U.S. District Court reports. 

The Postal Service's Office of Inspector General began investigating reports of mail dumping by a letter carrier in June 2013, after East Greenwich residents and at least one EG business owner complained about not receiving mail.

Postal Service investigators interviewed Morelli and later found more than 1,000 pieces of mail discarded in a garbage receptacle behind a Warwick school. Morelli had been hired as a temporary postal worker in December 2012.

He originally pleaded not guilty in July and was released on $10,000 secured bond and was required to hand over his passport and remain in Rhode Island pending trial. 

Morelli, who remains free under the previous release conditions, is scheduled to be sentenced April 11. The mail that was recovered was released to local postal authorities July 23 for processing.