Convicted Felon Sentenced to Federal Prison for Bribing a Postal Employee

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – September 19, 2018 – Mark Shankle, 28, of Nashville, Tennessee, was sentenced Monday to 15 months in prison for paying a bribe to a public official, announced U.S. Attorney Don Cochran of the Middle District of Tennessee.  Shankle was indicted in March and pleaded guilty on June 11, 2018.

According to court documents, in December 2017 Shankle approached an employee of the United States Postal Service in Joelton, Tennessee and solicited his assistance in receiving a shipment of steroids.  Shankle offered to pay the employee $300 to hold and deliver the package to him when it arrived at the post office.  After arranging to have the package shipped under a false name, Shankle gave the employee $100.  The postal employee reported the incident to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. 

In late December 2017, the Postal Service identified the target package which had been shipped from Oakland, California.  Agents obtained a search warrant for the package and discovered that it contained approximately two pounds of marijuana.  A controlled delivery of the package was arranged and Shankle was arrested after picking up the package at the rear of the Ashland City, Tennessee Post Office on January 2, 2018.

At the time of his arrest, Shankle was on supervised release after having been convicted in 2011, in U.S. District Court in Nashville, of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the USPS Office of Inspector General.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Siji Moore.