ELLSWORTH – A woman who embezzled thousands of dollars from a local health care practice received an early Christmas gift late last week.

Rita Worster, 48, of Carmel entered guilty pleas last Friday in Hancock County Superior Court to charges of Class B theft and Class B forgery in exchange for a potentially lighter sentence.

A deal between her attorney, William Blaisdell of Ellsworth, and Hancock County District Attorney Michael Povich will allow Worster to remain out of jail for one year while she attempts to pay back more than $50,000 in restitution.

Povich was on vacation this week and Blaisdell did not return a call for comment, but court documents indicate the deal was agreed upon last week.

Worster has one year to pay restitution to Frenchman Bay Orthopedics, a private practice affiliated with Maine Coast Memorial Hospital.

If full restitution is not made, the woman will be sentenced to six years in prison with all but 31/2 years suspended, followed by three years’ probation, according to court documents.

If Worster is able to pay back the money she embezzled, Povich said, he would consider a lesser sentence.

She is expected to return to court late next year.

Worster was charged in August after Ellsworth police investigated claims of fraudulent checks that had been cashed at local banks dating to November 2006.

The woman, an office employee at Frenchman Bay Orthopedics, allegedly cashed about a dozen checks, ranging from $7.50 to $1,400, police said. Worster is believed to have written the checks to herself, and they didn’t quite match other checks issued by the health care provider.

Police said Worster joined the hospital staff in March 2005 but was terminated shortly after her charges came to light.

It wasn’t clear in the court documents what type of work Worster was planning to do in order to pay the restitution.