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A man arrested in October and charged with stealing and discarding more than 1,000 pieces of mail has agreed to a plea deal to avoid trial.

Ottis McCoy Jr. will formally enter the plea in U.S. Middle District Court in Orlando next Wednesday.

Mark Solomon talked with and provided a cell phone video to WESH 2 investigates last October, showing the mail on Oct. 22 scattered in the woods at the end of a street in the Waterford Trails community of east Orange County.

“You could also see a handful of letters in the trees further up,” Solomon said.

One piece of mail was a ballot just weeks before election day. It’s unknown whether the voter who never received it obtained a replacement or voted in person.

Postal inspectors made the case against McCoy, thanks to a residential security camera that captured images of him dumping the mail.

The GPS tracking device in his vehicle also confirmed, through his employer, that his vehicle deviated from its assigned route.

WESH 2 Investigates first obtained a copy of the plea agreement that shows McCoy has agreed to plead guilty to one count of obstruction of U.S. mail.

It carries a maximum penalty of six months in prison, a $5,000 fine, and requires him to pay restitution to victims for loss or damage to their mail property.

When we first told Solomon about the arrest of a person paid to deliver mail, he said, “You can't trust our government to deal with and handle our daily mail, especially a ballot!”

As explained in a November WESH 2 Investigates report, McCoy's employer is Cummings Contract Delivery Services based in Putnam County.

Its job listing states drivers "Must have a clean 7-year driving record (no suspensions, DUI, revoked, speeding tickets, etc."

But WESH 2 Investigates checked McCoy’s driving record, and it certainly is not "clean" as we found nearly two dozen violations in the last two years, including several counts of careless driving and running stop lights and signs, invalid registration, and no proof of insurance.

The contractor, Cummings, also states that new hires "must be able to pass a federal background check."

We emailed the postal service to find out if a background check was done on McCoy and if private contractors, called "Highway Contract Routes," are held to the same hiring standards as postal employees.

USPS spokesperson Tiffany Rowland didn't address that, but said, "Although individuals who provide service on such contracted routes are not directly employed by the Postal Service, anyone entrusted with handling the mail is expected to maintain the highest standards of ethical behavior."

Cummings Contract Delivery Services did not return our messages, and when the owner was reached by phone, she quickly hung up.

As part of McCoy's plea agreement, he agrees not to seek postal worker employment in the future, faces supervised release following any prison sentence, and waives his right to appeal.