Former FedEx driver fined for dumping hundreds of packages in ravine

A former FedEx delivery driver was fined after he pleaded guilty to dumping hundreds of packages in an Alabama ravine in November 2021.

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Deandre Rayshaun Charleston, 24, was originally charged with five counts of cargo theft. He pleaded guilty earlier in January to one count of fourth-degree theft of property, AL.com reported.

The other four charges against him will be dismissed after Charleston pays court-ordered fines totaling $655, according to Blount County online court records.

The Blount County Sheriff’s Office stated that deputies discovered “300 to 400 boxes of assorted sizes” on Nov. 24, 2021, that appeared to have “been thrown off a ravine,” WIAT-TV reported.

The ravine was located near Hayden in the southwestern part of the county, the sheriff’s office said.

Charleston received a one-year suspended sentence with two years of unsupervised probation, according to AL.com.

“We are very pleased that the D.A.’s Office in Blount County considered all the evidence and, more importantly, the circumstances of Deandre’s life and his personal situation,’’ Brett Bloomston, Charleston’s attorney, said in a statement. “Since this incident, Deandre has proved through his actions that he was deserving of a non-custody sentence.”

Blount County Sheriff Mark Moon said that approximately 247 boxes, valued at $25,000, were unable to be identified or scanned by FedEx, according to AL.com.

Sheriff Mark Moon at the time said some 300 to 400 boxes of assorted sizes were found on Nov. 24 in a ravine off River Oak Trail on private property near Hayden.

Packages with an estimated value of $15,000 were matched with a victim, the sheriff said. Moon said some of the boxes contained pet items, children’s toys, food, Beanie Babies and other collectibles, according to AL.com.

“It appeared that he was very sorrowful for what he’d done and just admitted he was having some hard times in his life and just made poor choices,” Moon said during a news conference.

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