Federal officials charged a former United States Postal Service employee for allegedly discarding more than 100 absentee ballots being sent to voters, as well as other mail, earlier this month. 

DeShawn Bojgere of Louisville, Ky., “discarded a large quantity of mail” between Oct. 5 and Oct. 15, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky said in a Monday statement. The mail, which was found in a construction dumpster, included approximately 111 general election absentee ballots being sent to voters, as well as hundreds of pieces of other mail, including campaign flyers from a Florida political party.

Bojgere told special agents with the Postal Service that he was responsible for discarding the mail, according to authorities. He is no longer a Postal Service employee.

Bojgere was charged with “the delay or destruction of mail.”  If convicted of the federal crime, he faces up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and one year of supervised release.  

All of the mail was sent to its intended recipients after being recovered, officials noted. 

“Especially in these times, Americans depend on the reliability and integrity of those that deliver the U.S. Mail,” U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman said in the Monday statement. “Conduct by Postal employees that violates that duty will result in swift federal prosecution.” 

Earlier this month, trash bags full of undelivered mail were discovered at the curb outside of the home of a postal employee in Pennsylvania.

A record number of voters are expected to vote by mail across the country ahead of the Nov. 3 elections due to the coronavirus pandemic.