An ex-mail carrier in suburban Chicago is pleading guilty to pilfering $275,000 in donations that were heading to a charity on his route, after being charged for stealing more than 29,400 pieces of mail in the effort. Perhaps he read his job description as “cash collector” or thought no one would be any the wiser.

CBS Chicago said he is facing one felony count of possessing stolen mail, after admitting to taking $17,741 in cash, $250,346 in checks, $6,143 in credit card payments, and $1,681 from around 25 donors. The charity hasn’t been named in the proceedings. If he’s convicted he could face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine — not to mention having to give back all that money he confiscated.

Obviously the post office was none too pleased with its employee.

“It’s unfortunate that a postal employee would consider stealing mail from anyone, let alone a charitable organization,” said Scott Caspell, Executive Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General. “The vast majority of postal employees are honest, hard working public servants whose daily efforts instill trust in America’s postal system. … The message needs to be clear — postal employees who steal or abandon mail, will be throwing away their postal career and face criminal prosecution.”

This isn’t the first mail carrier we’ve come across behaving badly, but then again, there are excellent USPS employees out there as well doing good deeds.

Former Mail Carrier Admits Stealing $275K In Charity Donations [CBS Chicago]

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