Mailman Delivering Drugs? Stephan Hale Accused of Making Special Deliveries

GLOUCESTER (CBS/WBZ) Police say Stephen Hale, 30, of Gloucester, Mass. delivered much more than the mail on his Massachusetts postal route. The mailman is accused of selling OxyContin while on the job.

Police busted him on Monday, allegedly finding drugs in his mail truck.

Gloucester police detective Ken Ryan told CBS affiliate WBZ's Jim Smith that investigators received information from sources with respect to his dealing as well as his use of OxyContin while on duty.

"Would he go house to house delivering this stuff along with the mail? I'm sure that on part of his route there were certain locations he would go to to use and distribute drugs," said Ryan to WBZ.

In addition to his legal problems, Hale's job might be in jeopardy; he's been suspended without pay by the postal service.

Gloucester postal customers aren't looking too kindly on the local mailman. "I think it's horrible," said one woman. "There's a lot of drugs going around. The young kids are exposed to it, but the mailman delivering it? That's a shock."

Police say he was also caught with an opened birthday card that had been sent in the mail with ten dollars in it. "It was a lady who had put ten dollars in the mail for a grandson or something," said Ryan.

In addition to the drug charges Hale is accused of larceny for stealing that piece of mail.

Hale has been released on $5,000 bail.