POSTAL SUPERVISOR, PAL TIED TO DRUG MAIL SCHEME

An alleged pot-peddling postman and a cohort, who authorities say used
Uncle Sam to lug their wacky weed from California to the Bay State,
appeared for the first time in U.S. District Court yesterday.

Douglas Tatro of Haverhill, a supervisor with the U.S. Postal Service, and
Sidney Smith of Middleton were each indicted May 24 on seven counts of
possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

According to the indictment, Smith allegedly received more than 100
kilograms of marijuana via Express Mail between 1990 and 1998.

Authorities say the pot was shipped to bogus companies with P.O. boxes in
Topsfield and Rowley - under the watchful eye of Tatro, who was described
as the operation's "safety net."

Tatro, 42, pleaded innocent at his arraignment and was released on $25,000
bond. The 57-year-old Smith, who has yet to be arraigned, remained in
custody pending a detention hearing this afternoon.

According to an affidavit filed by Postal Inspector Michael J. McCarran
yesterday, a runner would pick up the 37-pound shipments at the post office
and deliver them to Smith.

The unnamed runner is cooperating with authorities.

"Smith told the (runner) that (Tatro) was working in a supervisory capacity
in the post office and would notify Smith if any packages were intercepted
by law enforcement," McCarran wrote. "Smith indicated that (Tatro) was his
'safety net.' "

The P.O. boxes were set up by the runner with the help of Tatro, according
to McCarran, who would "pull the original P.O. box application and
substitute an application with fictitious information so that nothing could
be traced back to (the runner)."

McCarran said a federal handwriting expert reviewed P.O. box applications
and conclusively linked two signatures to Smith. The signature on a third
showed "some general similarity" to Tatro's writing, according to the
affidavit.