A Tennessee woman has been convicted of embezzling $280,000 from a bingo hall in western Kentucky where she worked.

Paula Marie Terrones, 31, of Clarksville, Tenn., pleaded guilty Wednesday in Todd County Circuit Court to three counts of forgery and two counts of theft as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.

She was sentenced to five years on each of the five counts, but Terrones won't serve prison time as long as she is repaying the debt to the Guthrie Senior Citizens Centers bingo, according to a statement from the state Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet. An agent with the Office of Charitable Gaming, a division of the cabinet, investigated the thefts.

Terrones was a bookkeeper for the Guthrie bingo center before she quit in September 2005. She altered checks by substituting her name after they were approved by the organization officers, the statement said. She altered a total of 131 checks, beginning in July 2003.

Terrones was indicted in August on 132 counts of forgery and 132 counts of theft by unlawful taking, the cabinet said. The statement did not detail the reason for the extra two counts.

The remaining charges were dismissed, but they can be reinstated if Terrones does not repay the full amount, the statement said