The former clerk of a small Alabama town has pleaded guilty to ethics charges and ordered to pay more than $100,000 in restitution.

Diann Taylor, 46, entered her guilty plea to using her office or official position for her own personal gain and first-degree theft, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced Monday.

Taylor was the clerk of the Town of Akron, in Hale County, for more than two years, serving until November 2020.  The town’s population in 2019 was 328.

She was indicted last year.

At the plea hearing, Marshall said, Taylor admitted that between August of 2017 and November of 2020 she used her access to the Town of Akron’s bank accounts to purchase over $30,000 in goods and services and withdraw over $77,000 in cash from an ATM.

Taylor admitted at least some of these purchases and withdrawals were not authorized by the town.

Taylor received a 35-month suspended sentence with five years of probation.

She was also ordered to pay $110,908.60 in restitution.

“Public trust is lost when public officials exploit and abuse their access to critical funds and resources,’’ Marshall said. “No one is above the law; anyone who commits theft for personal gain will be prosecuted.”