Ex-postal worker sues United States following aquittal on federal charges> Man claims officials attempted to coerce plea and testimony in fraud case

BANGOR — A former worker at the U.S. Post Office in Rome claims in a federal lawsuit that postal officials tried to coerce him into pleading guilty to federal fraud charges.

The lawsuit names the United States, Labor Secetary Robert Reich and various postal officials as defendants.

In the lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Bangor, Joseph Barbioni claimed that postal officials coerced statements from friends and witnesses about an investigation against Barbioni in February 1994.

Barbioni was diagnosed as fully disabled after being injured in February 1986. But the U.S. government alleged that he owned and operated a trading post in the Maine town of Rome, even as he continued to receive federal Workers’ Compensation payments.

Barbioni claimed that the business was his wife’s, and that he only occasionally dropped off items on his way to the doctor’s office. His first trial ended in a mistrial when the jury found itself deadlocked after 11 hours of deliberation. In the second trial, Barbioni was acquitted of all 13 counts.

In court documents, Barbioni also claimed that postal officials illegally searched his home, defamed him before others, and attempted to get Barbioni’s daughter and brother to convince him to plead guilty.

In addition, Barbioni, a Vietnam veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder, claimed postal workers violated his rights under the Americans With Disabilities Act.

U.S. Attorney Jay P. McCloskey, whose office will likely defend the lawsuit, was not available for comment Thursday.