East Lansing resident Benjamin Gregory Shirley, 41, has been sentenced to 15 months in prison after an incident where he assaulted a postal employee while trying to receive a package that contained fentanyl. The details of the case, as released by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Michigan, revealed that the package had been mistakenly addressed to a wrong P.O. Box, leading to the confrontation.
When Shirley learned from the postal clerk that he could not claim the parcel, he became visibly upset. The situation escalated quickly when he decided to literally climb over the counter and physically engage the clerk in an attempt to take the package. This led to his immediate apprehension and a subsequent search warrant execution, in which authorities discovered fentanyl tucked inside a teddy bear.
U.S. Attorney Timothy VerHey stressed the gravity of such assaults, stating, "My office stands ready to investigate and prosecute those who assault federal workers; no one should be subject to attack simply for doing their job," according to an announcement on the Justice Department’s website.
The significance of Shirley's previous criminal history was not lost on officials, as Sean F. McStravick, Acting Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Detroit Division, commented on the severity of the incident. "This individual, who has a lengthy criminal history, brazenly jumped the counter of a Post Office to retrieve a package later found to contain fentanyl, a reckless act that put postal employees and the public at serious risk," McStravick expressed, as noted by the Justice Department’s website.
Handled by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the investigation into this case led to Shirley's conviction. Assistant U.S. Attorney Vito S. Solitro was the prosecutor, addressing the serious matters of federal employee safety and the wider battle against the opioid crisis in America.
