Published: July 14, 2008 01:48 pm         

Garrett man pleads guilty to stealing postal revenue

OAKLAND - Leslie Allen Bittinger, 42, of Oakland pleaded guilty in Garrett County Circuit Court on three charges, including theft of postal revenue.

Bittinger was sentenced 18 months and fined $750 following his hearing for felony theft, possession of a regulated firearm and negligent driving.

He was charged with felony theft of $5,975.50 of postal revenue from April 2006 to October 2007. Bittinger had pleaded guilty to the charge in June, and was sentenced last week to five years with all but 18 months suspended and was fined $500.

In October, U.S. Postal Service investigators determined that items mailed by Bittinger displayed duplicate postage. State police conducted an additional investigation and arrested Bittinger on Nov. 1. Equipment used to produce the duplicate postage was seized and Bittinger explained to officers the process he had used.

During the investigation, officers found two handguns, which are regulated under state law. Because Bittinger had been convicted of second-degree assault in 2000, he is ineligible to possess the handguns.

For possessing the handguns, he was also sentenced to 18 months, which will run concurrently with the theft sentence.

Also, Bittinger was fined $250 for negligent driving.

In July 2007, Bittinger was stopped by Garrett County sheriff's deputies when he was driving a golf cart along Garrett Highway. He was arrested after officers noticed he had been consuming alcohol.