A Bradford woman who was accused of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from Worth W. Smith Co. pleaded guilty to one charge on March 21.

Laurie A. Recny, 37, entered the guilty to one count of theft by deception, a third-degree felony, said District Attorney Stephanie Vettenburg-Shaffer.

Court records indicate that 15 other felony theft charges were dismissed as part of the plea. A trial had been scheduled to take place Monday and Tuesday in McKean County Court but was not held due to her plea.

“A restitution hearing has to be scheduled,” said Shaffer, who explained a sentencing date will be scheduled to take place after the restitution hearing.

The amount of restitution owed will be determined at the hearing.

When Recny was first charged, law enforcement officials had alleged that she took $273,118.09 from the company over a period of 10 years. Her attorney, Dennis Luttenauer, argued during a preliminary hearing that there was no accurate way to determine precisely how much money was stolen.

Testimony at the hearing indicated that the amount was based on the amount of cash voids she made while an employee. Recny took money by leaving money from customers out of the drawer, writing down the amount on a slip of paper underneath her mousepad so she knew how much to void from the register and putting the cash in her apron or purse, according to court records.

Luttenauer argued there was no way to determine how many of the voids were legitimate and how many were thefts.

When a manager of the store discovered the thefts were happening, owners, a manager and bookkeeper met with Recny to talk to her about it in a meeting, when she was also fired. Their testimony indicated that she initially denied taking money, but admitted to it after watching surveillance video of herself.

Recny is free pending sentencing, having posted 10 percent of $25,000 bail.