BOSTON — A former Boston postal worker will likely avoid jail time after admitting to stealing thousands of undelivered pieces of mail, many of which wound up in a Weymouth tow lot nearly a year ago.

Megan Hawes, 29, of Boston's Roslindale neighborhood, was sentenced to two years of supervised release and 80 hours of community service in U.S. District Court on Wednesday. She had pleaded guilty in December to one count of theft of mail matter by a Postal Service employee.

Federal prosecutors said that Hawes stole and never delivered more than 9,700 pieces of mail while working as a postal carrier between March 2017 and May 10, 2018. Prosecutors said she would sift through the mail and steal any cash or gift cards she found.

The investigation into the crime began at the Central Towing lot in Weymouth, where police bring impounded cars. Bruce Hanson, owner of the towing company, said he found thousands of pieces of undelivered mail in the back of an SUV in May 2018 more than a month after towing it.

Hanson said the company towed the SUV on March 30 after Weymouth police stopped the driver on Park Avenue because the vehicle was uninsured and had an expired registration.

Hanson said he sent a letter notifying the registered owner that Central Towing had the SUV on its lot, but he never heard back from anyone. After a month, Hanson said he went back to the SUV to see if he could find clues that would help him reach with the owner. Hanson said he found several pay stubs from the U.S. Postal Service, a Postal Service employee placard and a stack of opened greeting cards.

“There were dozens of opened envelopes, and they were all addressed to different people, mostly in Roslindale,” Hanson said in May last year. “That’s when I started to realize what was going on.”

Prosecutors said that the Postal Service determined that Hawes had used the SUV in her job as a mail carrier and ultimately admitted to stealing the mail.

"The true victims in this case are the approximately 1,095 individuals who did not receive their mail because of the defendant’s criminal action," prosecutors said in a sentencing memo filed with court.

Prosecutors said the undelivered mail included, cards, bills, advertisements, magazines and juror service summonses.

"I would never have suspected that the theft could come directly from a postal employee. It is crucial that citizens have confidence in our government institutions," said one person in an emailed victim impact statement filed with court. "A second impact is the anxiety and uncertainty of not knowing exactly what was taken from me and how my mail and whatever information it contained is being used."

Hawes's defense attorney, Stellio Sinnis, could not be reached for comment.