PORTLAND — An Auburn man admitted Tuesday to five felonies stemming from the robberies of two U.S. postal carriers and burglaries of two U.S. post offices in central Maine.

Winston O. McLeod Submitted photo

Winston O. McLeod, 30, appeared in U.S. District Court where he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to rob U.S. postal carriers and to burglarize U.S. post offices, as well as two counts of burglary of a U.S. post office.

Each of those three crimes is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

McLeod also pleaded guilty to robbery of a U.S. postal carrier, a crime that carries a maximum prison sentence of 25 years and a fine of $250,000.

Any sentence will be followed by up to five years of supervised release.

In January, McLeod, and co-conspirator, Lance Funderburk of Orange, New Jersey, 31, broke into post offices in Paris and North Monmouth and stole money order printers, mail, computers, post office box keys and other items.

Afterward, the two men robbed two Lewiston postal carriers on Jan. 20, threatening to stab each one with a knife unless they turned over their postal keys.

The two men were arrested after a traffic stop.

A search of the men and the white Jeep that matched a vehicle seen in videos from each crime scene produced a black butterfly knife, black ski mask, large sums of cash, and several checks determined to have been stolen from the Paris post office.

When responding to the Paris location, postal inspectors also found two iPhones in the snow directly beneath the broken window used to access the post office.

Investigators were able to identify McLeod through a photo of him on the lock screen of one of the phones. Law enforcement recovered additional stolen items at and near the address where the two men had been staying.

No sentencing date has been set for McLeod.

“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is committed to keeping the U.S. mail, its employees, and customers safe,” said Ketty Larco-Ward, inspector in charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division.

“Today’s plea is the culmination of exceptional teamwork between our local and federal law enforcement partners. The swift response by responding officers and their ongoing support were instrumental in making this a successful investigation,” she said in a written statement.

“Ensuring the safety of our employees is a top priority, postal inspectors will continue to thoroughly investigate any robberies of our employees and burglaries of our facilities,” she said.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case, with assistance from FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force and the Rumford, Lewiston, Paris and Monmouth police departments.