DETROIT – A United States Postal Service worker is accused of deliberately throwing away mail that was supposed to be delivered in metro Detroit.

A criminal complaint that was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court against the letter carrier, who has not been arraigned yet, said 117 pieces of first class mail and 143 pieces of standard mail were found in a dumpster Jan. 2 behind a Family Dollar store on Telegraph Road in Detroit.

The mail was postmarked with dates that ranged from Dec. 16, 2015, to Dec. 31, 2015.

A USPS investigator determined that a letter carrier assigned to the Farmintgon Hills post office was supposed to deliver the mail.

During an interview with the letter carrier, she admitted to discarding the mail but said she had not stolen any other mail, the complaint said. However, a search of her car turned up a postal sack in her trunk that contained 538 pieces of mail, the complaint said.

She is charged with unlawfully discarding and stealing mail.