Mailman gets probation -- and accolades

RALEIGH -- After former mailman Steven Padgett received probation in federal court Wednesday for holding onto years worth of junk mail, support for him swiftly spread beyond his family, friends and residents of his Apex route.

By the end of the day, he was a cause celebre for a public irritated by the volume of unsolicited mail received daily through the U.S. Postal Service. Hundreds of e-mail messages and comments came into local news outlets applauding Padgett for his misdeed.

"That 'Mailman Steve' should get a commendation," said Doug Kopp of Washington, D.C., who called a News & Observer reporter when he read about Padgett's case. "I'm so fed up with junk mail, and I can't opt out of it."

The strong undercurrent of frustration with the amount of unsolicited mailings that come to American households is what supporters of a proposed "Do Not Mail Registry" are counting on. The nonprofit environmental organization ForestEthics based in San Francisco launched a petition for the registry in March and has had more than 70,000 people sign on, including celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio.

The group estimates that 30 percent of the world's mail is actually junk mail going to American households.

But Padgett didn't keep the buckets of third- and fourth-class mail stacked in his Raleigh garage because of a personal stand against waste, according to his attorney, Andrew McCoppin. Rather, it was difficulty keeping up with the demands of a job he loved that left him struggling each day to deliver the mail and still have the personal interactions he cherished with those on his route.

A swell of support

That didn't seem to matter to his new-found supporters.

"Steve Padgett for President!" a Seminole, Fla., resident wrote in an e-mail message. Others wanted to nominate him for awards, donate to his legal funds and have him deliver mail in their neighborhoods.

Advertising groups find these feelings misdirected, asserting that advertising mail helps consumers with coupons and allows small businesses to get word about their services to targeted audiences, said Sandy Cutts of the Washington-based Direct Marketing Association. And please don't call it junk mail, Cutts said.

"We hate that term," she said. "We don't use the j-word."

The U.S. Postal Service also views the mail as an important part of its revenue. As the service battles a continuous shrinking stream of income, advertiser-driven mail is holding strong as more businesses turn to it as an effective way to reach targeted demographics, said Joanne Veto, a public relations manager for the service.

'Buoyed my spirits'

Padgett declined to speak after his sentencing Wednesday. But he did thank those who had supported him, including his family and residents along his route, for their support. "It buoyed my spirits," he said.

He also apologized to other mail carriers whose work came under scrutiny after the discovery of the mail at Padgett's home.

In addition to three years of probation, Padgett will have to pay a $3,000 fine and do 500 hours of community service.

Padgett built up good will on his Apex route by handing out treats to dogs, making sure packages were left on dry porches and introducing himself to customers. Children called him "Mailman Steve."

The U.S. Postal Service never received a complaint about the missing mail and didn't know anything was amiss until it heard from a utility worker who noticed the excess mail at Padgett's house in Raleigh. Postal inspectors went to the home this spring and discovered the third-class mail piled in his garage and buried in his yard. Padgett, a Vietnam veteran, resigned immediately.

Postal authorities don't think any letters, bills or other type of first-class or second-class mail were among the hundreds of thousands of fliers at Padgett's home, some dating back to 1999.

The prosecutor in the case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Josh Howard, said postal authorities had notified hundreds of Padgett's customers about the criminal proceeding, and only one responded. That single response, Howard, said, was in support of Padgett. Nor had any of the companies who advertised requested any type of restitution.

"Mr. Padgett did not mean harm to any person, rather he overcompensated by doing his job better than anyone," Kenna Reinhardt wrote in a letter to the judge. "We still feel the loss of his presence every day!!"

She described how Padgett, her mail carrier, learned that her 3-year-old had been diagnosed with leukemia. A week later, a package came with a teddy bear fashioned as a registered nurse. There was a note wishing that the bear would help young Haidyn become comfortable with the nurses she would see during her treatment.

The return address was Padgett's.