Mar 19, 2024 3 min read

Let’s consider the following hypothetical situation: A man works for the United States Postal System as a mail carrier and has driven mail delivery trucks his entire career.

Four years ago, he was assigned a new vehicle, which he dutifully kept in perfect shape. His retirement day finally arrived. At the conclusion of his last delivery shift, he took the mail truck home and parked it in his garage instead of returning it to the depot.

The next morning, his supervisor called and asked him about the mail truck and why he didn’t return it. The startling answer the supervisor received was that the mailman considered it his property since he drove it for four years. Of course, the supervisor disagreed, and said that the mailman must immediately return the truck to avoid any penalty or police officers will arrive to retrieve it and will be carrying an arrest warrant for theft of government property.

In order to thwart the USPS’ effort to retrieve its truck, the mailman concealed the truck in a remote location, lied to the investigators as to its whereabouts, forced family members to cover his story, continued to insist that there was no crime committed and that the truck was his to keep. Out of respect for the mailman’s years of service, he was given many chances to come clean without prosecution. He used every deceitful trick to avoid compliance with the postal authorities.

Finally, the boom was lowered. The mailman was arrested, indicted, prosecuted and punished for unlawfully taking government property. He wept, wailed and moaned that he was being unfairly treated and proclaimed he had no guilt in the matter.

Sound familiar? It sure should. How would any other citizens be treated in a criminal case like this one versus the way former President Donald Trump has been coddled in his theft of government documents?

There’s little doubt that a citizen who committed theft of government property would certainly face arrest, indictment and prosecution, while Trump has dragged his case through years of delays, false arguments and deception without facing court action. Although he continues to complain about unfair treatment by federal prosecutors, Trump has been the beneficiary of a two-tiered justice system for decades.

It’s high time this comes to a bitter end with a conviction at the hands of government prosecutors in the Mar-A-Lago case. Justice delayed is justice denied, especially justice for the people of the United States.

Ronald J. Yamka

Canonsburg