CHICAGO (CBS) – A former mail carrier has pleaded guilty to stealing $275,000 in donations that had been mailed to a charity on his route in west suburban Berwyn.

Frederick L. Taylor, a mail carrier at the U.S. Postal Service facility in Berwyn, had been charged with stealing more than 29,400 pieces of mail intended for delivery to a charity on his route.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s John Cody reports

Taylor, 41, has pleaded guilty to one felony count of possessing stolen mail, according to federal prosecutors.

Taylor admitted he had stolen at least 29,403 donation envelopes from August 2010 to Aug. 8, 2011 – each of them containing cash, checks, money orders, or credit card payments for a charity identified in court records only as “Charity A.”

In all, Taylor admitted to having taken approximately $17,741 in cash, $250,346 in checks, $6,143 in credit card payments, and $1,681 in money orders, all from mail that was supposed to have been delivered to the charity, from approximately 25,000 different donors.

“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.”

He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 19. He faces up to five years in prison, and a $250,000 fine.