Former Tomé postmaster Pearson Cummings, 62, who pleaded guilty last summer to misappropriation of postal funds, was sentenced Tuesday in federal court to five years on probation and was ordered to repay the more than $16,000 he stole from the Post Office, the Valencia County News-Bulletin reported.

Cummings, who was postmaster in Tomé  from January 2004 to August 2005, pleaded guilty to a single charge last July after admitting he took money from cash drawers and writing money orders to himself and others, the News-Bulletin said.

Cummings had worked for the U.S. Postal Service in Portales for nearly 20 years before taking the job at the Tomé  Post Office, and, according to court documents, was trying to maintain households in both communities and ran into financial difficulties, the paper reported.

According to the documents, Cummings began taking money from the postal service to cover his debts when he was unable to transfer back to Portales, where his wife and family lived, the News-Bulletin said.

When federal investigators first interviewed Cummings on Aug. 24, 2005, the former postmaster gave them a "complete and thorough admission of wrongdoing in the matter," according to a sentencing memorandum sent to U.S. District Court Judge Christina Armijo.

After being fired by the postal service, Cummings has been working for an ice cream company and lives in a fifth-wheel trailer in Veguita, the News-Bulletin reported. 

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