A South Portland mail carrier accused of using her knowledge of the U.S. Postal Service to help an online drug ring pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges Wednesday.

Katie Montgomery faces up to a year in prison after investigators linked her to FireBunnyUSA, a vendor out of New York and California that allegedly shipped over 10,000 packages containing cocaine, ketamine, MDMA and other drugs between 2019 and 2022, according to court records.

A spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in New York confirmed Thursday that Montgomery pleaded guilty to misdemeanor conspiracy, months after she was indicted on a felony-level conspiracy charge that carried a maximum prison sentence of 25 years.

Montgomery’s attorney, Peter Frankel, called the plea deal “very positive news” and said prosecutors realized his client didn’t intend to aid a drug operation.

“She recognized she made a mistake, but it was far less serious than it was initially thought to be,” he said. “She’s done everything else right in her life.”

She is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 2.

The indictment claimed Montgomery was a repeat FireBunny customer and in July 2022 offered Nan Wu and his accomplices advice on how to import MDMA and ketamine into the United States – and checked the status of incoming packages to see if they had been flagged by the Postal Service.

“NY and cali are really hard with going through but Chicago and Puerto Rico are easier,” read one message authorities found on Wu’s phone from an account called “jherigarcya” that was linked to Montgomery’s name and address, according to court records. “I’ll ask around and find out what’s working now.”

Mark Seitz, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers Local 92, said Montgomery is still an employee of the Postal Service but has been on unpaid leave since March. A spokesperson for USPS said they could not comment on her employment status.

Frankel said he believes Montgomery hopes to resume work as a letter carrier.