Former Middlesex Township secretary Linda Young is serving time in the Butler County Prison for stealing nearly a quarter-million dollars from the township.

Young who pleaded guilty to theft and forgery, was sentenced Thursday to serve 17 years in the county’s Intermediate Punishment Program.

She will spend the first four months of the program in the jail, and the first eight months after her release on house arrest with electronic monitoring. The remainder of her IPP time will be on probation.

During the court hearing, Young’s defense attorney Charles Porter told county Judge William Shaffer that the circumstances were “puzzling.”

By all accounts, Young, a 51-year-old mother of two, is a well-liked, dedicated mother and hardworking employee.

Porter told the judge that he suspects Young probably wanted to “lavish things on her children,” but she picked an inappropriate way to do that.

Court records say Young, who had worked for the township a dozen years, stole the money during the last seven years of her employment: from Jan. 15, 2004, until Feb. 25, 2011.

The judge ordered Young to pay $211,130 in restitution and forfeit her township pension, valued at $15,400.

As part of her plea arrangement with the county district attorney’s office, Young paid the first instalment, $60,000, prior to being sentenced.

The judge told Young that if she pays off the restitution and logs in 400 hours of community service he would consider allowing her to end probation early.