RELATED: Feds: Dayton postal workers opened packages, kept meth, weed to sell
Wearing khakis and a white shirt, Oder answered, “I plead guilty” when asked for his plea. U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Rose scheduled Oder’s sentencing for July 17.
Rose found Oder guilty, accepted the plea and ordered a pre-sentence investigation to be reviewed by the attorneys.
WATCH: Video shows postal worker stuffing mail down sweatpants
Oder had at least six kilograms of marijuana in his possession and planned to sell it to local drug users, according to the statement of facts read by assistant U.S. attorney Brent Tabacchi.
Defense attorney Tamara Sack calculated Oder’s non-binding sentencing range from six months to one year, factoring in the amount of weed and Oder’s lack of criminal history.
RELATED: Feds: Postal worker on disability got $94,000, was in 35 motorcycle races
Oder and Desmen A. Pauley, who both worked in Dayton’s U.S. Postal Service’s distribution center at 1111 E. Fifth St., were arrested Jan. 18.
A criminal complaint and affidavit alleged both men ripped open Priority Mail packages they suspected contained drugs and kept the marijuana and methamphetamine they found.
RELATED: 7 other times regional postal workers have been in trouble with the law
Both agreed to bills of information. Pauley’s bill on one count of possessing with intent to distribute meth was filed April 8. An arraignment and plea date has not been scheduled in Pauley’s case.
Pauley told investigators he and Oder had been stealing narcotics for about 18 months, while Oder said he was working alone, according to the complaint.
RELATED: Ex-Springfield postal worker accused of delay or destruction of mail
Two guns and more than $17,000 in cash were seized Jan. 18 by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office RANGE task force from Oder’s Gondert Avenue home and Pauley’s Westdale Court residence, according to Montgomery County Common Pleas Court records.
On Jan. 18, postal special agents, inspectors from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and RANGE Task Force agents set up surveillance on Pauley and Oder as they worked.
RELATED: Postal worker pleads guilty to delaying, destroying mail
The complaint said both left the workroom floor several times during their 9:30 p.m.-to-6 a.m. shift. Oder took a full backpack to his vehicle. After both employees clocked out, they sat in Oder’s car before both drove off.
The complaint said agents stopped both at their homes, where K-9s alerted to narcotics. Pauley was found with a pound of leafy green substance suspected to be marijuana, while Oder was found with about nine pounds of suspected marijuana.
RELATED: Local postal worker pleads guilty to embezzling nearly $15,000
MORE: Read other stories from Mark Gokavi
About the Author