Former postal worker sentenced for stealing mail

    A former postal carrier convicted of stealing and failing to deliver
thousands of pieces of mail will serve 10 months in federal prison.

    29-year-old Robert Bechtol of Theodore was sentenced Friday in
U.S. District Court in Mobile.
   
    Bechtol entered a plea deal in July to a charge of delay of mail
by a postal worker.

    Prosecutors said postal inspectors recovered hundreds of pieces
of mail from Bechtol’s vehicle and his residence. Bechtol admitted
stealing cash, gift cards and prescription drugs and attempted to
hide the thefts by burning some of the mail.

    The government said the thefts occurred between May and December
of last year.