Richmond mail carrier sentenced for accepting bribes in exchange for drugs

by: WRIC Newsroom

Posted: Dec 17, 2019 / 05:05 PM EST / Updated: Dec 17, 2019 / 05:05 PM EST

FILE- In this Dec. 14, 2017, file photo, packages travel on a conveyor belt for sorting at the main post office in Omaha, Neb. The city of New York and the state of California sued the U.S. Postal Service Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019, to stop tens of thousands of cigarette packages from being mailed from foreign countries to U.S. residents, saying the smugglers are engaging in “cigarette tax evasion” while postal workers look the other way. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A Richmond mail carrier will spend more than a year behind bars after accepting bribes in exchange for drugs.

Authorities say Christopher Grant, 59, accepted bribes for nearly a year from multiple people while working as a U.S. mail carrier.

In exchange, Grant gave those individuals at least 20 suspected marijuana parcels, all of which had been shipped from other states to vacant addresses and false aliases along Grant’s route.

The release stated that one parcel was intercepted and contained more than 11 pounds of marijuana.

In an effort to hide his crimes, authorities say Grant attempted to alter U.S. Postal tracking records to falsely show that he had delivered the packages as addressed.

Grant was confronted after surveillance recordings showed him accepting five cash bribes from individuals receiving the suspected marijuana parcels.

He was sentenced to 13 months in prison.

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