Dec 20, 2012 1 min read

PITTSBURGH – A former officer manager has been sentenced to 3½ to 7 years in prison for stealing $1.38 million from a Pittsburgh-area psychology practice.

Thirty-nine-year-old Marie Garde-Knoche of Moon Township was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty to theft charges in September.

Allegheny County detectives said she used money stolen from Allegheny Psychological Services to pay student loans, credit card bills, her sister’s phone bills, a boyfriend’s credit card and made some checks payable to her husband. She also secretly added her boyfriend to the practice’s benefit plan.

According to court records, the alleged fraud was discovered last year when the business owner noticed unusual transactions tied to Myrtle Beach, S.C., where Garda-Knoche was vacationing.

Garde-Knoche will spend four years on probation after she gets out of prison and must repay more than $1 million not already recovered.