A U.S. Postal Service employee was arrested Thursday after federal investigators said she forged hospital excuse slips to justify paid sick days she received.

Brenda S. Koch, 44, of Paulding, Ohio, faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted of five counts of forgery.

Koch is accused of making fake documents from the Paulding County Hospital emergency room to cover time off she took under the Family and Medical Leave Act five times between December 2008 and November 2009. She was working at the Postal Service’s Fort Wayne Processing and Distribution Center.

Her supervisor reported the fake documents to the Postal Service’s Office of the Inspector General and a special agent began investigating in November, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Koch was paid about $2,500 for the sick leave. When the special agent interviewed her, Koch admitted to using a previous emergency room document to make the fake ones she gave to her supervisor, court documents said.

She was released on her own recognizance after being booked into the Allen County Lockup.