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A woman convicted of stealing over $28,000 from the personal bank account while working as an employee at an Austin bank was sentenced Thursday in Mower County District Court.

Bonnie Ann Kilpatrick, 48, of Austin was sentenced to five years probation and 45 days in jail after pleading guilty to felony theft – take/use/transfer movable property without consent to the tune of $28,600.

Three separate felony charges were dropped in a plea deal. She must also pay $35,419.88 in restitution.

Judge Jeffrey Kritzer handed down the sentence.

Kilpatrick was charged in July of this year for a string of thefts while working as a teller at First Farmers & Merchants. The thefts date back to March of 2020 and stretched through March of this year a total of 15 times, and involved cash amounts of between $1,600 and $3,500.

Surveillance footage taken at the bank on three separate occasions showed Kilpatrick completing transactions on a victim’s account without the victim being present.

Kilpatrick initially denied taking the money, but later admitted it, indicating that she had a gambling problem and that all the money she stole had been spent.

— Michael Stoll contributed to this story.