Nearly three years after she was fired from the job, the former Columbiana County Dog Warden has entered a plea in her criminal case.

Dawn Croft, 43, of East Palestine had been scheduled to go on trial on Wednesday on charges of theft in office, money laundering, and tampering with records.

Instead, Croft withdrew her guilty plea and pled guilty to all three felony charges that involved stealing $26,268 while she was in office.

Columbiana County Assistant Prosecutor John Gamble told Judge Megan Bickerton that the plea deal calls for Croft to serve three 12-month concurrent sentences in prison and pay restitution for the more than $26,000 she stole from the Dog Warden's office between 2015 and 2016.

Prosecutor Gamble says it was her own employees who alerted authorities that something was wrong, "The various receipts often didn't match the amount listed in the personal checks that were written."

But that's not all.  The state conducted undercover stings and she was caught stealing red-handed, "We had agents from the Attorney General's Office, BCI  make controlled deposits with marked money that we looked for in the Treasurer's Office to be deposited and that money was never deposited by her," Gamble said.

According to the Prosecutor, Croft even created a PayPal account that Columbiana County administrators didn't know about, she solicited help for the animals at the dog pound but kept the money for herself.

But there's a new Dog Warden in Columbiana County, and she tells 21 News there are rules in place now to make sure the public's money is safe.

Heidi Pecorelli, Columbiana County's current Dog Warden says, "We no longer are allowed to have a PayPal account.  Any money that comes in through the door is receipted immediately.  If you give a monetary donation and are not given a receipt you need to ask why."

Pecorelli says they received a lot of negative feedback because of what Croft did and they are working to win back the public's trust one day at a time.

Croft was hired as deputy dog warden/pound keeper in January 2006 and was promoted to the top job eight months later.

She told the judge she is currently self-employed in construction.

Croft was indicted by the Columbiana County Grand Jury last June, more than two years after the county commissioners voted unanimously to terminate Croft's employment as dog warden.

Croft will be sentenced for her crimes on July 15th.