HOUSTON -- A federal magistrate has released a convicted mail thief to participate in a nationally televised professional boxing event, Local 2 Investigates reported Wednesday.

Donald Albert Mouton, 30, is part of an arrest sweep involving stolen mail from Continental Airlines jets at Bush Intercontinental Airport. He and another man have been arrested so far, with federal agents planning more arrests next week.

"I'm not a bad person. I'm one of the finest gentlemen walking around," said Mouton while training Wednesday afternoon at the Ultimate Warriors Boxing Club on Mesa Drive in northeast Houston.

After performing sit-ups and other exercises, he told Local 2 Investigates he became a professional boxer late in life, but he called it his true passion.

Mouton is charged with felony possession of stolen mail after an undercover U.S. Postal Inspection Service agent reported buying 45 stolen debit cards from Mouton.

The debit cards had been swiped from a shipment of mail inside the cargo hold of a Continental jet. In court papers, the agent wrote that Mouton obtained the stolen mail from a friend who still works at the airline.

"I have bumps in the road along the way like everybody else does," said Mouton. "I'm not immune to nothing. I'm a human being, you know."

Mouton was on probation for the exact same felony crime when he was arrested this time.

In 2004, when he was employed by Continental Airlines, he was caught stealing cash from greeting cards that had been placed in the airport shipments by undercover agents. He pleaded guilty, but he avoided prison time.

"I don't have no comment about that," Mouton said. "That's going to get taken care of when that time is here to be taken care of.

"This fight Saturday -- this is like my chance to advance from neighborhood fellow to future boxing hero," he said.

US Magistrate Judge Calvin Botley set a $50,000 bail for Mouton and approved him to travel to Las Vegas for a professional prize fight on Saturday, scheduled for telecast on the Showtime cable channel. The judge also approved him to travel to Atlantic City for another fight later this month.

Mouton told the judge he had between $30 and $40 in the bank, so taxpayers will pay for his legal defense.

The same attorney who represented him on his prior conviction is now handling his case.

Botley approved the professional boxing travel, despite saying that he was "troubled" by this being Mouton's second offense. From the bench, he warned Mouton to avoid any alcohol or narcotics that are likely to be present at the big boxing events.

Botley ordered Mouton to surrender his passport, turn over all credit cards, and avoid any banking transactions while awaiting trial for his second offense.

Continental Airlines issued a written statement saying it works hard to avoid crime with its cargo and baggage, employing a vigorous security program and criminal background checks on new hires. The airline said it is cooperating in the ongoing federal investigation.

The other person arrested as part of this case has already been found guilty by a federal judge. Sentencing is set for Aug. 7, 2008, after agents traced cell phone calls that were used to activate stolen debit cards.

Agents confiscated some 500 stolen debit cards in the raid on that man's home and court documents identify Mouton as the supplier. His fingerprints were found on some of the stolen cards, agents wrote.

The debit cards that were stolen in the latest case were issued by the Texas Workforce Commission and its counterpart in Louisiana to pay unemployment benefits to people without jobs.

Federal investigators told Local 2 Investigates they expect to arrest more people, including at least one current airline employee, as the sweep continues next week.