UPDATE: Woman sentenced for theft of $19k+ from Dorchester Co. church

A woman now knows her fate, after stealing nearly $20,000 from a Dorchester County church. The Officer of the State’s Attorney for Dorchester County says on Tuesday, Ashley Ellis pleaded guilty to theft scheme: $10,000 to $100,000.

The charge stems from an investigation that found that Ellis took more than $19,000 from the Bucktown United Methodist Church, near Cambridge. She apparently mad a series of unauthorized payments to herself, from church funds. Ellis got the money from a checking account that was controlled by a family member, who served as church treasurer.

On Tuesday, Ellis was sentenced to 15 years in prison with the Division of Corrections, but the court suspended all but 18 months. Once released, Ellis will be on supervised probation for 5 years, and will have to pay $19,632.76 within three years. According to the report, when announcing the sentence, the court noted the impact of the crime on the victim, after considering testimony from church representatives.