The U.S. attorney`s office announced that a Dallas area mail courier pleaded guilty in federal court to stealing more than a dozen pieces of mail that contained company checks.

U.S. postal inspectors investigating the reports found 19 checks -- totalling nearly $500,000 -- hidden in Awunor Jackson Ikechukwu’s vehicle.

Ikechukwu, 46, faces up to five years in prison and a fine up to $250,000.