PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Authorities say tens of thousands of letters that should have gone to homes and businesses in the Tacony section of the city never got delivered.

Now, it has led to charges against a postal worker.

Federal prosecutors say that 48-year-old Patrick D’Ambrosio failed to deliver more than 22,000 pieces of mail between May 2014 and January of this year.

Investigators say they found the mail in his car and in trash bags in his garage inside of his Northeast Philadelphia home.

Residents in the area are outraged.

Angel Davila says, “I had no idea this was going on in this zip code.”

Authorities say the mail found contained more than 7,100 first class letters, more than 200 certified letters, over 11,700 standard letters, five treasury checks, hundreds of pieces of political mail and more than 2,500 non-profit letters.

Tiffany Baldt says, “We’re supposed to be able to trust them. If you can’t trust your mail carrier then there is no point in having them.”

Davila adds, “There are three of us that live in this house, especially the two people I live with… they depend on government checks. I would hate to have them tell me they have mail missing.”

If convicted, D’Ambrosio could get up to six months in jail and face a fine.