CHICAGO (MCT) — A veteran postal carrier admitted Thursday to stealing nearly 30,000 letters containing cash, checks or money orders that he was supposed to deliver to a charity on his mail route in Berwyn, Ill., federal authorities said.

Frederick L. Taylor, stole $275,000 meant for the charity over the year-long scheme, according to a guilty plea he entered at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse. But it was unclear how much money he actually pocketed because checks made out to the charity made up most of the stolen funds. He pocketed more than $17,700 in cash, authorities said.