Plea deal in Henry County woman's mail-theft case rejected; trial set for September

ANDERSON, Ind. — A proposed plea agreement that would have resolved allegations of mail theft against a Henry County woman has been rejected.

At a Monday hearing in Madison Circuit Court 5, 34-year-old Deborah D. Switzer instead received a Sept. 13 trial date.

The former U.S. Postal Service employee, who resides in Middletown, was charged last October with official misconduct, theft and conversion.

According to a report filed by a special agent with the USPS, a bag of "deliverable mail" was found last September in a trash can at a GetGo convenience store near the post office on Anderson's west side.

The report said:

• Switzer on Sept. 23 had been assigned to deliver the 34 pieces of mail found in the trash to homes along West 12th Street in Anderson.
• Postal service GPS equipment did not show the Middletown woman in that area on Sept. 23, but indicated she was at the convenience store where the mail was found.
• Surveillance video showed Switzer entering the store's restroom carrying a bag, and emerging two minutes later without the bag.

When interviewed by investigators, Switzer maintained she had not intentionally left the mail behind.

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A plea agreement filed in April called for Switzer to plead guilty as charged.

Under the terms of that document, she apparently would have been sentenced to time already served in the Madison County jail. Online records indicate she was in the jail for about an hour on Oct. 21.

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Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.