Ex-USPS officer pleads not guilty to mail theft

A former U.S. Postal Service officer appeared in federal court yesterday and pleaded not guilty to charges that he stole a package from the Chalan Kanoa Post Office last March 6.

Mark Tyquiengco appeared with counsel, Robert T. Torres. He pleaded not guilty to the indictment charging him with mail theft and theft of mail by a postal service employee.

U.S. District Court for the NMI Magistrate Judge Heather Kennedy set the jury trial for Aug. 15, 2017.

Kennedy released the defendant on his own recognizance.

Assistant U.S. attorney James Benedetto appeared for the U.S. government.

According to the indictment, Tyquiengco stole a package addressed to a person at his postal office box.

Tyquiengco, then being a U.S. Postal Service officer or employee, unlawfully embezzled the package intended to be conveyed by mail, addressed to the person at his postal office box, from the Chalan Kanoa Post Office.

A source said a U.S. Army veteran owned the package.