An Oregon woman who once was in charge of a federal halfway house in Portland pled guilty earlier this month to a felony charge of embezzlement, admitting to stealing money from the halfway house.

According to the U.S. attorney's office, the 39-year-old woman embezzled $213,787 from the nonprofit. And although she pled guilty, the woman is disputing the amount of stolen funds. She was supposedly ready to plead guilty last summer when she went to Rhode Island. She was working for a Big Brothers Big Sisters organization there before being fired after her employer learned of the embezzlement charges.

The amount, if any, that the woman is willing to admit to stealing is not known. Sometimes, people think it is better to accept a plea bargain because they are no longer interested in fighting any charges and just want to move on. A prosecutor said the dispute will be resolved at the April 16 sentencing hearing.

Officials at the U.S. Bureau of Prisons originally told the board of directors at the halfway house that she should be fired. The reasons given are not clear. The halfway house then investigated the woman, and claimed to have discovered that she was using a debit card for the halfway house to purchase items from an online business that she owned.

Because of her guilty plea, she can hopefully receive a lesser sentence than if she was convicted. A federal conviction is never easy, because fines can be more expensive and prison terms do not carry the possibility of parole.

Source: The Oregonian, "Former head of Portland's federal halfway house pleads guilty to embezzlement," Bryan Denson, Jan. 9, 2012