Topeka ? A 77-year-old former mail carrier has admitted in court that she failed to deliver thousands of pieces of mail on her 115-mile northeast Kansas route.

Dixie Bontrager, of Whiting, pleaded guilty to mail theft Thursday in federal court in Topeka.

Bontrager told The Associated Press last month she didn’t believe she had stolen mail, but simply failed to deliver it. She also said that much of the undelivered mail consisted of advertising.

In her plea deal, Bontrager admitted that agents searched four nonworking vehicles on her property in 2010 and found 496 first-class items and more than 2,700 standard mail items dating back to 2002. They also found periodicals and telephone books.

Bontrager was fired from the Holton Post Office in November 2010 after 30 years on the job.