Man Gets 18 Months In Prison For Assaulting Postal Employee In Oakdale
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A 23-year-old St. Paul man has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for assaulting and attempting to rob a post office worker in an attempt to retrieve a package that contained marijuana.
The incident happened June 4, 2020. The complaint says James Wilbert Jackson Jr. tried to pick up a package at a post office in Oakdale that day, but was thwarted because his name and address did not match the recipient or sender address on the package.
Jackson left and returned multiple times that day, investigators said, trying to convince the postal worker to give him the package. He returned again just before the post office closed for the day and once again requested the package.
When the postal service worker refused and walked away, Jackson jumped over the counter and punched the worker repeatedly in the head, resulting in scrapes and bruises to the employee's head and knees, along with a broken finger.
The post officer worker managed to restrain Jackson.
The package was later shown to contain over a pound of marijuana.
"This defendant attacked an innocent U.S. Postal Service employee, a public servant, who was simply doing his job," Acting U.S. Attorney W. Anders Folk said. "Postal workers are frontline employees who serve the public during challenging times, particularly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and they deserve to be safe and free from violence as they carry out their duties."