Former worker gets probation for stealing from county agency

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) -- The former treasurer of the Middlesex County Utilities Authority has been sentenced to five years of probation for stealing from the agency.

NJ.com reports 68-year-old Margaret Brennan was ordered Tuesday to continue receiving counseling for her gambling addiction and repay the more than $57,000 she took to feed her habit. A judge is also mulling whether she'll have to repay the $80,000 the agency spent on a forensic accountant to trace the money she took to repay her gambling debts.

But prosecutors weren't happy with the sentence. Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew Carey says it was a "slap in the face of the public trust."

Brennan says she's sorry that she "did a terrible thing."

She pleaded guilty to theft last year.
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