Sean Barrett, 30, has been accused of dumping more than 1,300 pieces of mail, as well as nearly 1,000 copies of a weekly coupon package, in a wooded area off Pletcher Road, according to documents filed in federal court.

Barrett, of Sanborn, worked out of the Lewiston Post Office at the time. He appeared before a federal judge via videoconferencing on Friday.

On Oct. 13, Lewiston police notified the U.S. Postal Service's Office of Inspector General about the bins and garbage bags of undelivered mail found near a trail in a wooded area off Pletcher Road, east of Creek Road, according to the criminal complaint.

Police recovered more than 1,300 pieces of mail, including 502 first-class mailings, 794 "standard" mailings, 15 political mailings and an absentee ballot sent from Marin County, California. The found mail was destined for delivery to Youngstown mailing addresses on a route Barrett was assigned to work, investigators determined.

On Oct. 19, Postal Service Special Agent Brendan M. Boone found 14 bundles of Western New York Values in an area near where the other mail had been previously recovered, according to court documents. WNY Values is produced by The Buffalo News. An inventory of the bundles found there were 972 undelivered coupon packages.

The next day, Barrett, in an interview with Boone, admitted he threw papers in the woods two or three times near the end of his shifts, according to court documents.

Barrett also admitted he put the bins and garbage bags of undelivered mail into the woods at about 3 p.m. Oct. 13, "with the intent of delivering the aforementioned mailings the next day," Boone wrote in court papers. Some of the mail ended up in garbage bags because he dropped a fourth container, Barrett told Boone.

Barrett told the investigator he didn't want to "face reprisal" if he brought undelivered mail back to the post office, according to the complaint. He had been disciplined in August for doing that, Boone wrote in the complaint.

Investigators believe Barrett failed to deliver at least some pieces of mail on his route between approximately Aug. 28 and Oct. 13.

Joseph M. LaTona, Barrett's defense attorney, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Barrett's employment status could not be determined Friday afternoon.

Barrett, who was hired by the Postal Service in 2016, was charged with delaying or destroying mail or newspapers, according to court documents. He is the second local mail carrier this month to be charged with a federal crime for failing to deliver mail.

Brandon Wilson of Buffalo, who was arrested Nov. 3 at the Peace Bridge, had 800 pieces of undelivered mail in his trunk when he encountered border agents, federal authorities have said.