The Republican Reports:

Former Hampden postmaster pleads guilty to embezzlement
A longtime Hampden postmaster faces up to a year in federal prison after pleading guilty today to embezzling more than $27,000 in stamp proceeds over three years.

George E. Podmore Jr., who resigned in July 2006, admitted selling stamps to postal customers at the retail window between 2003 and 2006, then pocketing the money.

Podmore confessed to the scheme last summer when confronted by U.S. Postal Inspectors, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven H. Breslow. The shortfall was flagged by another employee at the Hampden Post Office when Podmore went on medical leave last year.

He had been postmaster since 1998. Defense lawyer Thomas J. Rooke said the case has sullied an otherwise sterling career with the postal service