Former postal employee pleads guilty to lesser charge
A former postal employee who was charged with embezzling mail pleaded guilty today to a lesser charge.
Lori A. DeFisher, who originally faced a felony of theft of mail by a postal employee, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Rochester to a misdemeanor of theft of property used by the Postal Service.
She admitted taking bins used to transport mail and not to taking mail itself.
DeFisher, 44, could receive a sentence ranging from probation to up to six months in prison when Magistrate Judge Jonathan Feldman sentences her Dec. 8.
DeFisher, who worked at the post office in Le Roy, Genesee County, was charged in January 2008 with illegally diverting 139 pieces of mail, including some intended for her boyfriend, by forging his name on a change-of-address form.
After her arrest, DeFisher and her boyfriend said she had permission to sign his name on the change-of-address form.
DeFisher also said that mail investigators found in her former home in Le Roy was left by people who occupied the home after she moved to Florida in 2006.
The plea was negotiated to resolve the case, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany H. Lee.