BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A federal judge is ordering a former Tuscaloosa postal worker to serve eight months of home detention for stealing mail.

U.S. District Judge Virginia E. Hopkins imposed the sentence Thursday in Birmingham on 62-year-old Jerry Wayne Dillard of Fayette. She also ordered him to pay $1,335 in restitution and to serve 14 months on probation in all.

Dillard pleaded guilty in August to the charges of mail theft and delaying and detaining the mail.

Authorities say an investigation showed Dillard was opening mail while out on this rounds making deliveries. Investigators found about 265 pieces of mail from 171 postal customers.

Most of the mail was found buried in 14 holes that had been dug in Dillard’s backyard.