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Nicholas Beauchene, 26, of Kearny was nabbed by special agents of the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General after a Saddle Brook man reported finding dumped bundles of mail in a dumpster behind a North Arlington bank last fall.
The mail tossed by Beauchene included 99 general election ballots destined for residents in West Orange and 276 campaign flyers from local candidates for West Orange Town Council and Board of Education, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said.
Federal authorities also recovered 627 pieces of first class, 873 pieces of standard class and two pieces of certified mail, she said.
The mail was all scheduled to be delivered on Sept. 28, Oct. 1, and Oct. 2, 2020, to addresses on certain postal routes in Orange and West Orange, the U.S. attorney said.
Howard Dinger of Saddle Brook stumbled on it early last October.
“Just found two to 300 lb of mail dumped in a dumpster behind one of the banks I service. Including at least 200 ballots,” Dinger posted on Facebook. “This is the kind of stuff you just can’t make up. And yes it was reported to the local police and the postal police.”
Alerted by Dinger, North Arlington police reported finding "several loose (rubber banded) bundles of mail as described by the caller" on Forest Street behind the Santander Bank on Schuyler Avenue.
These were "secured accordingly" and turned over the U.S. Postal Service, which Honig said put it “back into the mail stream for delivery to its intended recipients.”
SEE: 'Go Jump In A Lake': Authorities Verify Bergen Man's Report Of Dumped Mail-In Ballots
Rather than face trial, Beauchene took a deal from the government, pleading guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Newark to what is known as “desertion of mails.”
He remained free pending sentencing, which hadn’t yet been scheduled.
Honig credited special agents of the USPS-Office of Inspector General’s Northeast Area Field Office with the investigation leading to the charges and plea, secured by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara F. Merin of her Special Prosecutions Division in Newark.
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