Former Postal Carrier Sentenced For Bribery, Drug Distribution And Delay Of Mail

CONTACT:  Barbara Burns
PHONE:         (716) 843-5817
FAX #:            (716) 551-305

BUFFALO, N.Y.-Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Briana Fugate, 27, of Cheektowaga, N.Y., who was convicted of bribery, distribution of marijuana, and delay of mail, was sentenced to 12 months by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Wei Xiang, who handled the case, stated that Fugate accepted bribes to help deliver what she believed to be drug shipments from the west coast, and that, as she learned to recognize drug parcels, she opened some and sold their contents herself.  Fugate was a mail carrier for the United States Postal Service and had worked out of the Central Park Station Post Office in the City of Buffalo. The defendant was arrested following an undercover operation in 2015, when she distributed a pound of stolen marijuana out of her mail truck, while working her postal route.  After law enforcement agents arrested Fugate, they discovered over 1,500 pieces of mail in her car that had not been delivered. Fugate was on probation for a state larceny conviction during this conduct.

The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Adam S. Cohen; the United States Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector-in-Charge Shelly Binkowski; the United States Postal Service, Office of the Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Monica Weyler, Eastern Area Field Office, Philadelphia, PA; and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Kevin Kelly.