FARMINGTON — A woman from Strong who pleaded guilty to stealing debit card information and using it to pay bills must pay restitution of $4,240 within 10 months to avoid a conviction.

Erica L. Couture, 33, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Franklin County Superior Court to a misdemeanor charge of theft by unauthorized taking. The state dismissed a felony theft charge.

Erica Couture

If Couture also complies with a one-year delayed sentencing agreement, a theft charge will be dismissed. If she doesn’t, the plea deal would be off and she would face up to 364 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.

Her attorney, Woody Hanstein, said she pleaded guilty because she believes if the case went to trial, a judge or jury could believe the state’s evidence and she could be found guilty. She has an 8-year-old child and a good job and thinks it is in her best interest and that of her family to put this behind her, he said.

Couture said it “was too much of a risk to take.”

Couture is accused of using a friend’s debit card information to pay bills. She claims the friend gave her the information because she didn’t have a checking account or credit card to make car payments and that she paid the money back.

According to Wilton police Chief Heidi Wilcox, the card belonged to a Wilton resident who made a payment to help Couture. An investigation showed Couture was using the card information to pay bills, Wilcox said in March.

Felicia Floyd, whose card was used, told the court Wednesday she did not agree with the sentence. It makes it seem like it was a “glorified loan,” she said.

“I feel like it should have been handled differently,” said Floyd, a corrections officer.

She said she didn’t know how Couture got her financial information.

“Erica not only took my money, she took my trust,” Floyd said. She considered the sentence a “slap on the wrist” to Couture.

Both sides appeared to have evidence concerns in the case if it went to trial.

“It certainly sounds like both sides are not happy,” Justice Robert Mullen said.

Hanstein said a previous theft charge mentioned by Floyd happened when Couture was 18 and took a pair of earrings from Filene’s department store. She confessed and paid a fine, he said.

Hanstein said that during two hours of questioning by police, Couture maintained her explanation that Floyd gave her the debit card number and a personal identification number to use to pay car payments because she didn’t have a checking account and Couture always paid Floyd back.

She also asked police how she could have obtained the number if Floyd hadn’t given it to her, and how the transactions could have gone unnoticed for 16 months.