Sacramento postal worker charged with withholding more than 1,000 pieces of political mail

A Sacramento postal worker is facing federal charges after prosecutors say he withheld more than 1,000 pieces of political campaign mail intended for residents ahead of California's Nov. 3 general election.

Antoine Rashad Polite, 35, was charged with delaying and obstructing the delivery of U.S. mail, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California announced on Monday.

Polite worked as a letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service in Sacramento County. Investigators allege that between Sept. 23 and Oct. 27, "Polite improperly withheld" hundreds of pieces of political mail rather than delivering them to residents.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the investigation started after postal managers discovered roughly 493 pieces of political mail in an area designated for bulk business mail deemed undeliverable due to invalid addresses. The pieces had valid addresses along Polite's assigned route, prosecutors said.

In a similar instance, investigators later found another 527 pieces of political mail in undeliverable mail containers and inside Polite's assigned postal vehicle. Despite these pieces also containing valid addresses, many had their addresses crossed out or were marked as undeliverable, prosecutors said.

Among the withheld mail were campaign mail related to candidates and ballot propositions on California's Nov. 3 general election ballot, prosecutors said.

Most of the withheld mail has since been delivered to their intended addresses, officials said.

If convicted, Polite faces up to six months in prison for obstruction of mail and one year for delay or destruction of mail, prosecutors said.