Dayton postal worker who took meth from mail to sell pleads guilty

The former Dayton postal worker who blamed his old employer for him taking packages containing drugs reached a plea deal Friday in federal court.

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Desmen A. Pauley, 25, pleaded guilty by bill of information in Dayton’s U.S. District Court to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

U.S. District Court Judge Walter Rice told Pauley the maximum sentences are 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine. There is no minimum sentence. Rice scheduled Pauley’s next hearing for Aug. 16. Pauley, who Rice said tested positive for several drugs but is in treatment, will remain free on bond.

Wearing a dark gray shirt and without the dreadlocks he sported during a Wednesday interview with this organization, Pauley waived his grand jury rights. “I plead guilty,” Pauley said when asked for his plea, which Rice accepted.

Defense attorney Anthony VanNoy said he calculated Pauley’s non-binding sentencing guideline range at 57 to 71 months in prison.

VanNoy said Pauley — who has no serious criminal history — could qualify for “safety valve” eligibility which would reduce the advisory guideline range to 46 to 57 months.

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Pauley and Tyler O. Oder, who both worked at the U.S. Postal Service’s distribution center at 1111 E. Fifth St., both agreed to bills of information for stealing narcotics from U.S. mail. Oder pleaded guilty in April and is to be sentenced July 17.

Pauley and Oder were accused in a federal criminal complaint of ripping open Priority Mail packages they suspected included drugs and keeping marijuana and meth found inside. The defendants then sold the drugs, according to the complaint.

On Wednesday, Pauley said everybody at the post office stole drugs, “so, ain’t no reason we should be caught,” he said, adding that routinely got away with it since he started in 2012: “I blame the post office for influencing me.”

RELATED: Feds: Dayton postal workers opened packages, kept meth, weed to sell

Court documents indicated investigators found 12 pounds of suspected marijuana, one pound of suspected meth and two handguns at Pauley’s residence on Jan. 18. They also said 15 pounds of suspected marijuana and $15,000 in cash were found at Oder’s residence.

Pauley said last week that mail is often mishandled and does not get where it is intended.

“The post office is just very sloppy. Anybody can work there,” Pauley said on Wednesday. “The post office needs to be charged for this.”

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