A Concord man pleaded not guilty in federal court yesterday to a charge of conspiring to steal nearly $10,490 worth of property from the U.S. Postal Service. Postage stamps made up most of the stolen property, authorities said.

Robert O'Rourke, 51, and four others were indicted in August on the conspiracy theft charge. The prosecuting attorney, Alfred Rubega, could not be reached late yesterday, and the indictments handed up against the five provide minimal details.

The five allegedly stole the stamps and other unnamed property from post offices in Salem and Woburn, Mass., in October and December 2006, according to the indictments. Their plan, the indictments said, was to give the stamps and other property to a "fence" in Boston to be sold.

The indictment said the five people charged used a "newspaper rigged with two layers of tin foil" to get by post office anti-theft systems. The indictment contained no additional details about the alleged thefts or how the six people knew one another. Court records also did not say where the other four people are from.

O'Rourke is scheduled to stand trial in February. If convicted, he could face five years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Two of the other alleged co-conspirators have also pleaded not guilty. The other two have not been arraigned.

Annmarie Timmins