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Christopher F. Donohue, a 60-year-old grandfather of three from Leonardo, in Monmouth County, originally stole an envelope on March 2 containing prescription medication that the federal Department of Veterans Affairs had mailed to a military veteran, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said Thursday.
The theft "was consistent with a series of other mail packages containing prescription medication issued by the VA, which had gone missing from the Belford Post Office (in Middletown) without reaching their intended recipients," Carpenito said.So investigators set a trap.
On Wednesday, Donohue "attempted to steal another package from the Belford Post Office, which law enforcement had outfitted with a prescription bottle and inert pills as part of the investigation," Carpenito said.
Donohue -- who'd been working for the U.S. Postal Service for 30 years -- was arrested with the pill bottle and envelope, the U.S. attorney said.
Carpenito credited special agents of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General Eastern Area Field Office, the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, Northeast Field Office and Middletown police with the investigation leading to the charges.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle S. Gasparian of Carpenito's Criminal Division in Trenton was handling the case for the government.
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