POCATELLO — A second defendant accused of embezzling nearly $83,000 from the Aid For Friends Representative Payee Program over several years time has pleaded guilty in federal court.

    Barbara Waters, longtime manager of the Aid For Friends Representative Payee Program, signed the plea agreement in July and officially pleaded guilty on

Aug. 28 in U.S. District Court in Pocatello to theft of government property, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

    According to the plea agreement, Waters admitted to cashing checks and writing checks from the Aid For Friends Social Security Administration trust account for her personal expenses.

    BJ Stensland, executive director of Aid For Friends, said the nonprofit has a little more than 150 clients enrolled in its Representative Payee Program. Through that program, the client’s Social Security checks are deposited into a trust account, and those working for the program then write checks to pay the respective client’s bills.

    Local attorney Scott Heide, board chairman of Aid For Friends, said those funds, until released to pay for the individual client’s bills, are still federal funds, or property of the federal government.

    Heide also said that although Waters has pleaded guilty to the charge, there will likely be a hearing over how much restitution she will have to pay. While Aid For Friends contends Waters is responsible for nearly $83,000 going missing from the Social Security trust account, Waters claims the figure is only $70,000.

    Stensland said that Waters was in her position with Aid For Friends for 12 years, ending in early 2011. Heide believes that, if not for the statute of limitations controlling how far back the court can go, the amount could be much greater than the $83,000 they believe Waters is responsible for.

    Waters is the second former Aid For Friends employee convicted of embezzling funds from its Representative Payee Program.

    Earlier this year, Leslie Briggs, 36, was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $104,000 in restitution. She was Waters’ assistant and admitted in March that she wrote checks from the trust account for personal expenses from November 2008 to December 2010.

    Stensland said that when Aid For Friends officials began to uncover the abnormalities in the Representative Payee Program in early 2011, there was always concern that both Briggs and Waters had acted inappropriately.

    “Once it became apparent there were some discrepancies, and we started looking into it, it became clear that it might involve two people,” she said. “It was very difficult for the staff because we had worked so closely with them.”

    Of top concern, however, was the protection of the program’s clients, she said. Stensland also said that the program was insured against such problems and that the clients experienced no losses due to the indiscretions of either Briggs or Waters.

    Aid For Friends did experience some losses, however.

    Stensland said many hours were spent compiling thousands of documents to aid in the federal investigation. The nonprofit also had to come up with the insurance deductibles out of pocket.

    What the embezzlement has done is changed the way Aid For Friends operates its Representative Payee Program, Stensland said.

    “We have really tightened up those areas we found provided the opportunity,” she said. “Someone outside of the (Representative Payee) Program signs the checks, so there is more oversight. We do informal audits each month on the bank statements. We have put in stronger internal control procedures. The areas that had been kind of cloudy before, are now transparent.”

    The Rule 11 plea agreement signed by Waters is not binding on the judge in regards to sentencing, a hearing for which the federal court system does not show a scheduled date.