She embezzled thousands of dollars from Lexington County, was her sentence fair?

A Lexington woman is going to prison after pleading guilty to stealing money from Lexington County.

Ana Marin, 41, pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement of public funds, value less than $10,000, according to South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson.

Marin worked as a clerical assistant with the Lexington County Clerk of Court’s Office where she was responsible for collecting filing fees due to the family court, according to a news release. From January 2013 to May 2015, Marin diverted funds meant to be paid to the clerk’s office as filing fees to herself.

After a discrepancy was found in Marin’s collections, an audit was conducted which concluded that several thousand dollars were unaccounted for, according to the news release. The clerk’s records showed that numerous cases were missing a receipt for the filing fee, but were otherwise opened and assigned a number.

Marin admitted to the embezzlement and to depositing approximately $36,620 in cash into her personal checking account, Wilson’s office said.

Marin was sentenced to 5 years in prison, but after serving 90 days, the balance is suspended with probation for 5 years, according to Wilson’ office. The 90 days will be served on weekends.

Marin was also ordered to pay $36,620 in restitution. If Marin is able to pay the restitution before her probationary period is over, then probation will be terminated.

This story was originally published January 9, 2018 at 2:43 PM with the headline "She embezzled thousands of dollars from Lexington County, was her sentence fair?."