(WNY News Now) – A 26-year-old Buffalo man has pleaded guilty to a federal charge stemming from a 2024 conspiracy to steal mail from postal receptacles in Hamburg.

Timothee Tidwell, 26, of Buffalo, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail theft before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.

Federal prosecutors said the conspiracy occurred between October 9 and October 14, 2024. Tidwell and co-defendant Alexandria Duncan were accused of stealing mail from receptacles in Hamburg and removing items from the letters and envelopes.

According to court proceedings, Tidwell and Duncan traveled to the Camp Road area on October 14, 2024. Prosecutors said Tidwell got out of their vehicle and approached a row of mailboxes outside the post office while carrying a postal arrow key he was not legally authorized to possess.

Law enforcement later recovered opened and unopened mail addressed to other people from the vehicle used by Tidwell and Duncan, prosecutors said.

The opened mail included checks from individuals and businesses with a combined value of approximately $369,104.92.

Duncan previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced in connection with the case.

Tidwell faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

His sentencing is scheduled for December 23, 2026, before Judge Arcara.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Franz M. Wright. The investigation was conducted by the Village of Hamburg Police Department and the United States Postal Inspection Service.