BENTON COUNTY - Christine Renee Southard admitted she used taxpayer money to help fund her gambling addiction.

Southard was sentenced to eight years in prison Monday for stealing $48,077 from the Benton County Clerk’s Office where she worked as an administrative assistant. Southard will have to serve 14 months before she is eligible for parole.

Southard was fired April 30, 2012, after state auditors discovered discrepancies in office accounts during an annual audit.

Southard, a Bella Vista resident, pleaded guilty to theft of property in February. Her plea was to the court and without a plea agreement, meaning punishment was up to Circuit Judge Robin Green. She faced five to 20 years in prison.

Southard, 42, testified Monday she began gambling after the 2008 deaths of her son and father. Her marriage also began to deteriorate and her family began to have financial problems, she said.

She began to take occasional trips to an Oklahoma casino. Soon, the casino trips were occurring four times a week.

Southard testified she began taking money from office deposits. She hoped to replace the money, and did sometimes after winning at the casino.

She said she began to obsess about putting the stolen money back. That fueled more trips to the casino. “I’ve got to get money,” Southern said. “I’m going to go and put the money all back.”

State auditors discovered $48,077 was stolen over an eight-month period.

“You essentially gambled away $48,000 of taxpayer money?” Nathan Smith, deputy prosecutor, asked Southard.

“Yes, sir,” Southard replied.

A pre-sentencing report by a probation officer recommended a five-year prison sentence. Smith recommended Southard be sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Scott McElveen, the deputy public defender representing Southard, asked the court to consider placing her on probation for 20 years.

Green told Southard she recognized there had been some tough times in her life, but “these hardships do not justify you stealing funds from the taxpayers of Benton County.”

Green asked Smith to review other embezzlement cases handled in the county and find out the sentences given. Green said she did not want Southard to receive a more harsh or more lenient sentence than other people.

Southard, now in the county jail, awaits transfer to the Arkansas Department of Correction.

News, Pages 3 on 05/15/2013