House arrest is penalty for theft from university

EASTON, Pa. - A former employee in the Lehigh University bursar's office has been sentenced to house arrest for stealing $7,700 from the school.

Jennifer L. Sterner, 32, took money from July 2008 to April. She said she had a lot of credit-card debt that she hadn't told her husband about.

Sterner pleaded guilty Friday to one count of theft in Northampton County Court.

A judge sentenced her to three months of house arrest starting Dec. 1, followed by two years' probation.

Her attorney said Sterner had paid back nearly all the money, and planned to pay the final installment soon.