[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he United States Justice Department says that the 34-year-old former Postmaster in the community of Kotzebue faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of drug conspiracy and other charges leveled at him by a federal grand jury this week.

Shaun Pete Snyder, the former postal worker from August 2005 to February 2018 has been indicted on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance, possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, and illegal use of a communication facility the Justice Department revealed on Thursday.

[pullquote]Snyder knowingly conspired with others to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute a quantity of marijuana, by agreeing to facilitate the delivery of parcels containing marijuana through the Kotzebue Post Office

-US Attorney Bryan Schroder[/pullquote]

The indictment says Snyder took over as Postmaster in 2014 and by October 2016 and continuing until  February 2018, he conspired with others in the community “to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute a quantity of marijuana, by agreeing to facilitate the delivery of parcels containing marijuana through the Kotzebue Post Office,” U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder stated in Thursday’s announcement.

According to DoJ, Snyder was sent texts with tracking numbers for packages that contained cannabis which he would track to keep abreast of the status of the packages and ensure that the recipients of the packages were not part of a controlled delivery by authorities. He marked the delivery status as delivered and his co-conspirators would pick up the packages during or after hours at the rear freight door.

Snyder also provided information to those individuals with details as to how to package and send the illicit packages in a manner that avoided detection by Postal Inspectors. For these crimes, Snyder was paid cash.

The investigation was carried out by the USPS Office of Inspector General, the USPS Postal Inspection Service, and Alaska State Troopers.

  conspiracy, distribution, doj, drugs, grand jury, indictment, kotzebue, packages, pete, post office, postmaster, shaun, snyder