Letter carrier stole more than 100,000 letters

MONTREAL - A Montreal letter carrier pleaded guilty Monday in what is being called the biggest case of mail theft in Canadian history.

Eric Belley, 34, stole more than 100,000 letters and packages over a six-year period.

The letters themselves were left untouched, and that’s the problem - the prosecutor believes Belley was simply too lazy to do his job.

Instead of delivering mail to his customers the Montrealer brought entire bags of letters home, hiding them in his Montreal-area apartment or at his cottage north of the city.

“It was a shock. We had never seen such a thing, 75,000 or 100,000 pieces of mail,” said Catherine Lortie, of Canada Post.

On Monday the former postman pleaded guilty to mail theft. It appeared he had little choice after being caught in the act red-handed.

In the corporation’s investigation of Belley, he was filmed removing bags of mail from the trunk of his car and bringing it inside his home. He now faces up to 10 years in jail.more