Authorities estimate some 2,500 pounds of undelivered mail has been recovered from the home of a Brooklyn postal worker.
Joseph Brucato is accused of hoarding the mail — some of it postmarked to 2005 —in his Flatbush home, according to court papers. Authorities say that the hoarded mail represented some 40,000 pieces.
At a court hearing after his arrest on Wednesday, a lawyer for Brucato said her client was struggling with depression. The mailman was released by the judged and ordered to avoid “excessive alcohol consumption” while his case is processed.
Authorities say they began investigating Brucato after a supervisor noticed undelivered mail in his personal vehicle.
The Daily News reported that agents from the office of the inspector general later learned from Brucato that he had been keeping mail in the vehicle for “at least six months and that on some days he did not deliver the mail intended for his route for personal reasons,” according to court papers.
Brucato, 67, has been suspended from his job without pay.
It was not immediately clear when the undelivered mail might get resent.
