Armond Paige pleaded not guilty after a federal indictment accused him of discarding mail in vacant lots over roughly two years.
ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis postal carrier has pleaded not guilty to a federal charge accusing him of dumping at least 30,000 pieces of mail in vacant, overgrown lots instead of delivering them during a period stretching from 2024 into 2026.
Armond Paige, 54, was indicted Sept. 2 in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on one count of delay or destruction of mail by a postal employee, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri. Prosecutors allege Paige discarded the mail in various vacant lots from roughly 2024 through April 29, 2026, while working out of the Maryville Gardens Post Office on Meramec Street in south St. Louis. The charge is an accusation, and Paige is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Paige appeared in federal court Sept. 8 and entered a not guilty plea. Federal prosecutors have not publicly described a motive for the alleged conduct, nor has the Justice Department’s announcement identified every location where mail was allegedly discarded. Authorities also have not publicly detailed all of the types of correspondence involved in the 30,000-piece total.
The case is being investigated by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, the federal watchdog responsible for investigating alleged misconduct, fraud and other criminal activity involving Postal Service programs and employees. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwen Carroll is prosecuting the case, according to the Justice Department.
The final date listed in the alleged dumping period, April 29, also was the day First Alert 4 reported that hundreds of pieces of undelivered mail had been discovered in a vacant lot near Maffitt Avenue and North Taylor Avenue in north St. Louis. At the time, the Postal Service told the station it was investigating how the mail ended up there and intended to try to deliver it. Public statements reviewed for this article do not establish whether that specific discovery was among the lots prosecutors now attribute to Paige.
The April discovery included mail bearing addresses from several parts of the St. Louis area, according to the local report. Some pieces were dated months earlier, and reporters found correspondence involving utilities, banks, insurance companies and other senders. Postal Service workers later collected the mail from the lot. Residents interviewed at the time described problems with missing bills and other expected deliveries, but authorities have not publicly tied individual customer complaints to Paige’s federal case.
The indictment accuses Paige of violating a federal law covering postal employees who unlawfully delay or destroy mail entrusted to them for delivery. If convicted of the charge, Paige could face up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both, federal prosecutors said. Any sentence would be determined only after a conviction and would depend on the applicable federal sentencing process.
The Justice Department has not alleged in its public announcement that the discarded mail included ballots or other election materials, and it has not announced any charge related to theft, fraud or election interference. The federal case announced Sept. 8 consists of a single count of delay or destruction of mail by a postal employee.
The allegations arrive amid broader public concern about delayed and missing mail in parts of the St. Louis region, but prosecutors have not said Paige is responsible for other service problems beyond the conduct described in his indictment. The criminal case focuses specifically on the allegation that he discarded at least 30,000 pieces of mail in vacant lots while assigned to the Maryville Gardens Post Office.
Paige has pleaded not guilty, and the case remains pending in federal court. The Justice Department’s public announcement did not identify a next hearing date. The Postal Service Office of Inspector General continues to be listed as the investigating agency.
Author note: Last updated September 12, 2026.