Left: Russell Valleau (Farmington Hills Police Department). Right: Former Vice President Kamala Harris accepts the chairman’s award during the 56th NAACP Image Awards on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025, in Pasadena, Calif (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP).
A Michigan man who was convicted earlier this year for unleashing a racist attack on a U.S. Postal Service worker after they put Kamala Harris flyers in his mailbox got hit with a 12-month sentence this week, despite his lawyer insisting he is “not inherently racist” and suffers from “mental health issues coupled with the use of alcohol.”
Russell Valleau, 62, of Farmington Hills, was sentenced Tuesday in Michigan’s Eastern District after being found guilty in February on charges of assaulting a postal worker, according to court records.
His lawyer, James Amberg, had argued in Valleau’s sentencing memorandum that he deserved to be given a sentence of “time served” after being in custody since his arrest in September 2024.
“This equates out to approximately eight months of incarceration,” Amberg said. “This time has been spent mainly in county jail, a place built not to house individuals indefinitely, but instead to lock up the town drunk for a week or two. ”
A jury found Valleau guilty of assaulting a federal employee and acquitted him of using a dangerous weapon after a three-day trial and two hours of deliberations, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The mail carrier that Valleau attacked was in her truck on Rockwell Street in Farmington Hills, located 25 miles northwest of Detroit, when Valleau approached her on his bicycle and started yelling profanities. He was upset about receiving the mailer from Harris, who was the vice president and Democratic presidential nominee at the time, saying he did not want that “Black b— in my mailbox.”
During his tirade, Valleau also muttered a range of vulgarities and additional racial slurs as he complained that he was “tired of getting” the mailers.
The carrier was unsure what the defendant meant by this, and told him to just leave the mail in the mailbox.
“Do your f—in’ job,” Valleau railed.
The carrier told Valleau to back away and rolled up the window. As she did, he pulled out a knife and made motion toward her. In fear for her life, she then took out her USPS-issued pepper spray and sprayed him.
A neighbor later backed up the carrier’s account and said she heard Valleau yell, “Ow my eyes” after being sprayed. Valleau appeared to be intoxicated.
“Mr. Valleau used racial slurs in the case and there is no attempt by counsel to excuse that behavior,” Amberg said in his sentencing memo. “But what was said by Mr. Valleau was said by somebody with clear mental health issues. Just look at the pictures of his ramshackle trailer, this is a person living on the very edge of society. His mental health and alcohol issues place him in positions where he has been in and out of jail and prison his entire life.”
As Law&Crime previously reported, Valleau also faced state charges related to the incident, but it’s unclear what the status of his case is.
“A letter carrier was simply trying to do her job, and this defendant physically attacked her while using racist and offensive language,” Acting U.S. Attorney Julie A. Beck said in a statement after Valleau’s conviction. “This type of behavior has no place in our community and will not be tolerated.”
David Harris contributed to this report
