Mail carrier is convicted of comp fraud

PITTSBURGH -- A Mercer County mail carrier has been convicted in federal court of mail fraud and making false statements to obtain workers compensation benefits.
A jury found John L. McDonald, 60, of Fredonia Road, Hadley, guilty of 18 counts of false statements and four mail fraud counts in a three-day trial that ended Friday.
Tina Oberdorf Miller, the assistant United States attorney who prosecuted the case, said evidence showed that McDonald, a letter carrier for the United States Postal Service, made false statements to the U.S Department of Labor to obtain nearly $17,800 in workers' compensation benefits.
McDonald, who had been injured when he was struck by a car while delivering mail in Greenville in July 1999, contended he wasn't working during the period in which he applied for compensation but had a business involving the buying and selling of antiques, collectibles and other items, Miller said.
He faces sentencing before Judge Gustave Diamond at 10 a.m. May 22 and could get up to 110 years in prison and a fine of up to $5.5 million.