Beaufort postal worker fired for alleged mail theft, using drugs on the job

A mail carrier at a Beaufort post office was terminated just before Christmas for stealing mail and using narcotics while on the job, according to police.

The former employee at the Charles Street post office — who was contracted by the U.S. Postal Service as a “Highway Contract Route” driver — is under investigation by the Office of Inspector General. She has not yet been charged, according to Beaufort Postmaster Dylan Allen, who said she was fired around Dec. 23.

On Saturday, less than two weeks after her termination, the former courier was pulled over by a Beaufort County deputy for a defective tail light. Inside her 2000 Subaru Hatchback, police found four pieces of allegedly stolen mail and a small amount of crack cocaine, but not enough to charge the woman, according to a sheriff’s office incident report.

The woman was given a warning for her tail light and released from police custody, the report says. The traffic stop happened around 11:20 a.m. Saturday near the intersection of Sams Point Road and Sea Island Parkway (U.S. 21) on Lady’s Island.

When police commented on the woman’s steering wheel being on right side of her car, she said she was a mail courier and was heading to lunch, according to the incident report. After a supervisor informed deputies about her termination, police called on a bloodhound to probe the woman’s vehicle due to her telling “multiple lies” during the traffic stop — including giving police an old home address.

The investigation follows a case of mail theft from Hilton Head Island’s north-end post office, wherein a 46-year-old Savannah woman pleaded guilty to a felony charge in federal court. She received no jail time but was ordered to pay nearly $13,000 in restitution to over 100 victims of the crimes, which included embezzlement of checks she took from the mail and at least one stolen gift card.

For postal employees, stealing mail is a federal crime punishable by up to five years in prison or up to $250,000 in fines.

A judicial records search for Beaufort and Jasper counties revealed no criminal history for the mail carrier who was fired in December.

Editor’s note: This article does not name the suspect in the alleged mail theft case because she has not yet been charged with a crime.

This story was originally published January 5, 2026 at 2:02 PM.