After paying back $140,000 that was stolen from Clinton Township, a former township secretary was sentenced to the county Intermediate Punishment Program on Wednesday.

Margaret Nelson, 54, of Saxonburg was sentenced by Judge William Shaffer to 5 years in the program, with the first six months to be served on house arrest with electronic monitoring. That will be followed by 4 years of probation.

She was also ordered to pay court costs and $140,000 in restitution, which her attorney, Michael Muha, said has already been paid, and complete 50 hours of community service.

Nelson pleaded guilty May 2 to misdemeanor access device fraud and theft by unlawful taking.

She apologized in court during the proceedings and Muha said “my client has been fully cooperative with Pennsylvania State Police from the beginning. She owned up to what she had done and is incredibly remorseful for her actions.”

Representatives from Clinton Township were present in the courtroom but did not make a statement.

Nelson was initially charged with felony restricted activities — conflict of interest, access device fraud, theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception and receiving stolen property as well as misdemeanor tampering with records after an investigation by police into the theft over a four-year span.

The charges to which she pleaded were later changed to misdemeanors and the remaining counts were dismissed.

Nelson, who also formerly served as the township zoning officer and was a township employee for more than a decade, serving as full-time secretary for eight years, admitted to stealing the money from township coffers between March 4, 2011, and Oct. 6, 2015, by writing 35 checks from the township payroll tax account totaling $97,784 as well as five checks to herself from the township general fund totaling $33,384, and using a township credit card to make personal purchases from the Home Shopping Network.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, “Nelson admitted to documenting misleading information in the township ledger. She admitted to stealing money from the township, but was unsure of the total amount stolen” as well as admitting to purchasing items on the township credit card for her personal use, indicating “it was a mistake, and that she intended to pay the money back.”

She was later fired by the township supervisors.