Meriden Post Office Employee Pleads Not Guilty

An update on a story we brought you late last year as a Meriden postal worker pleaded not guilty Monday to accusations she opened mail to steal money and gift cards. 50-year-old Kim Smith of Hartland entered her plea in the Fifth Circuit Court in Claremont, on three misdemeanor charges including one of carrying a loaded handgun without a license.

Smith was cited by Plainfield Police in December, and is accused of stealing 17 gift cards totaling $920 dollars, and an additional $200 dollars in cash while working at the post office on the campus of Kimball Union Academy.

Residents began complaining about their mail appearing to have been opened back in October, prompting the post office to install a surveillance camera within the facility. Footage from the camera is said to show Smith sorting through mail, setting some aside, and then later opening those pieces and pocketing the contents.

A trial is scheduled to begin March 28.