Former Mail Carrier Convicted of Receiving Bribes, Fraud Conspiracy and Drug Conspiracy

CAMDEN, N.J. - A former U.S. Postal Service (USPS) mail carrier has been convicted of bribery, fraud, and conspiracy charges, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today.

Emerson Pavilus, 49, of Union, New Jersey, was convicted on Aug. 15, 2024, on all three counts of an indictment charging him with receiving bribes as a public official, conspiring to defraud the United States, and conspiring to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. The jury returned the verdict following a trial before U.S. Circuit Court Judge Stephanos Bibas, sitting by designation in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

According to documents filed in this case and the evidence presented at trial:

Pavilus was a mail carrier at the post office in Flanders, New Jersey. From at least 2015 to 2020, Pavilus received cash payments in exchange for helping individuals intercept packages containing illegal narcotics and other illicit materials. Pavilus provided his conspirators with addresses for vacant houses along his mail route to which they could ship illegal packages. Pavilus then intercepted those packages from the mail stream and personally delivered them to his conspirators in exchange for bribe payments at places other than the addresses listed on the packages.

The bribery charge is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 15 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain from the offense, or three times the monetary equivalent of the bribe amount, whichever is greatest. The conspiracy to defraud the United States charge carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain from the offense, whichever is greater. The narcotics offense carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison, and a maximum fine of $250,000.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of Homeland Security Investigations Newark, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge William S. Walker; the USPS Office of Inspector General, Northeast Area Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Matthew Modafferi; and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, in Newark, under the direction of Postal Inspector in Charge Christopher A. Nielsen, Philadelphia Division, with the investigation leading to the guilty verdict. He also thanked the Irvington Police Department.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jordann R. Conaboy and Mark J. McCarren.