Contract mail worker accused of throwing political mail in Orange County

A U.S. Mail contract postal worker is accused of dumping 1,000 pieces of mail — including at least one mail-in ballot and 400 pieces of political mail — into the woods in Orange County on Tuesday instead of delivering them just before the Nov. 5 election. This emerges from a new federal criminal complaint.

Ottis Nicole McCoy Jr. He dumped the mail on a dead-end street in Alafaya Woods, authorities said in the criminal complaint filed Friday in the Orlando division of U.S. District Court.

Suspicions about McCoy were raised after another employee helped McCoy load the day's route that morning and McCoy left for Tuesday's delivery “with a very large amount of U.S. mail” but completed the route earlier than expected, the statement said Complaint.

McCoy's boss at Cummings Contract Delivery Service Corp checked the GPS under McCoy's car and could see that the postal worker had strayed from his route. Another delivery worker drove to the empty parking lot and found the mail scattered on the ground and in the bushes, federal records say.

The United States Postal Inspection Service was notified of the incident, the criminal complaint states.

Adding to the evidence against McCoy was a homeowner who lived in Lalique track on the They were on a dead end street and had surveillance video that showed McCoy arriving at 5:14 p.m. and throwing out the mail.

“It is extremely concerning to see mail-in ballots being thrown away locally. However, we are grateful for the quick action of the United States Postal Service and the leadership of United States Attorney Roger Handberg from the Middle District of Florida,” said the Orange County elections director Glen Gilzean in a statement on Friday. “We are fully committed to ensuring that every affected voter in Orange County receives their absentee ballot in a timely manner so that every voice can be heard in this historic election.”

The federal court filing includes screenshots of the surveillance video and photos from the post.

Court guard broke the story about the federal case. McCoy is charged with larceny or receiving mail.

The U.S. Postal Service and the U.S. Attorney's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Florida Politics on Friday.

Court records did not indicate who was representing McCoy.

The criminal case comes as early voting is underway in an election that has major implications for the presidential election as well as several statewide and Orange County initiatives, as well as competitive local races.

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