Seymour Man Pleads Guilty In Post Office Bribery Scheme: Feds

SEYMOUR, CT — A Seymour man pleaded guilty Wednesday to a conspiracy offense stemming from a bribery and kickback scheme involving the postmaster of the Danbury Post Office.

According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Ephrem D. Nguyen was employed by the U.S. Postal Service as the postmaster of the Danbury Post Office, with responsibilities that included supervising the maintenance and repair of all equipment, facilities, and vehicles assigned to the post office. Michael D. Lutz, 26, of Seymour, was the general manager for a company, identified in court documents as “Vendor-1,” which provided vehicle maintenance and repair services for the Danbury Post Office.

In November 2020, Nguyen required that all Danbury Post Office vehicle maintenance and repair work be performed by Vendor-1, even though Nguyen knew that another vendor already had a contract with the Danbury Post Office for those services. Nguyen demanded that Vendor-1 provide free vehicle maintenance and repairs for himself, one of his children, a USPS employee, and employee of Nguyen’s personal business, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

In 2022, Nguyen solicited and received from Lutz $90,000 in cash bribes, which Lutz paid from Vendor-1’s proceeds. In exchange for these bribes, Nguyen caused the USPS to overpay Vendor-1 for vehicle maintenance and repair, which Nguyen characterized as a “raise.” Between approximately January 2022 and February 2023, Nguyen used USPS credit cards to pay Vendor-1 approximately $1.1 million, approximately $260,000 of which was for legitimate maintenance and repair work.

The USPS lost approximately $843,271.32 though this scheme, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Lutz pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services wire, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. Sentencing has been scheduled for May 16. He is released on bond pending sentencing.

On Oct. 13, 2023, Nguyen pleaded guilty to one count of honest services wire fraud related to this scheme and also admitted that he embezzled more than $80,000 from the USPS by using his USPS credit cards to rent vehicles for the personal use of himself and others, and that he approved more than $8,000 in fraudulent travel expense reimbursement claims for a co-worker. He is released on a $100,000 bond and residing in Massachusetts while awaiting sentencing.